Jedi Hebert
by ilostmycat
Summary: Taylor triggers with the abilities and memories of Lord Vader. With enemies closing in on all sides, Taylor has to learn to understand these strange new powers she's been given, before she's either killed or lost to the dark side. Taylor/Marissa
1. Chapter 1

Arc 1: Do or Do Not

A rage as vast as the ocean; as black as the gulf between the stars overtook me. The deeper I sank into this all-consuming hatred the more powerful I felt. It was as though my rage were power manifest. With it I could - a vision of a luminous red beam of death filled my vision. There was smoke, and soldiers desperately scrambling backward - away from me in stark terror. I advanced implacably. Every moment an eternity of gratification as I swung the blade in arcs too fast to track with the eye. Every stroke a body part. Every body part a pain-filled scream of terror. Every death I felt resonate deep down in my soul.

I awoke with a gasp as I hit the ground. I whipped my head around. The air felt unnaturally cool. I was trapped. I fumbled around in the dark. It took long seconds - far too long in my sleep-addled, half-catatonic-from-terror state - to find the cord and trace it to the switch on my bedside lamp. The light burst to life with warm incadescent strength. I spent minutes laying their on the floor, my heart slowing to a normal speed, my gaze taking in the familiar surroundings of my room. Even the lines and corners of the walls were a comfort in their familiarity. I am not a rage-filled cybernetic monster, I repeated inside my own head. I do not take satisfaction from dismembering people.

Once I felt I had the energy to stand on my own two legs, I disentangled myself from the comforters. The unnatural cool, I deduced, was from the incredible amount of sweat on my face, and my soaked-through comforter. I plodded to the bathroom and washed myself. I spent still more seconds staring at my reflection in the mirror. My eyes were not wreathed in that sickly orange. I swallowed. I even touched the surface of the mirror and traced my outline just to try and get some reassurance.

This was the third nightmare in as many days. At first, I thought it was just a side effect of the locker - my mind twisting and warping what were already fantastical dreams into this nightmare-scape. But now, three nights in a row... this was more than coincidence.

My first thought was that someone was doing this to me - a cape, maybe? My second thought was that I couldn't even get a break even when I was supposed to be home convalescing. My third thought was that life was just so fucking unfair.

"Taylor?" My dad's concerned voice drifted in from the hall.

"Yeah?" I called back.

"Is everything okay?"

I held my breath for a moment as I pondered. Was everything okay? No, I decided. Everything was most definitely not okay. "Everything's fine, dad."

There was a pause before he finally said, "It's just you've been in there for half an hour."

Ah, I thought. That would do it. I hastily finished and stepped out of the bathroom. My dad was there, still sleepy-eyed, still balding, still scarecrow thin and looking as though Brockton Bay had sucked all the life from him.

"Fine," I said, pasting a smile onto my face. "See? I just dozed a bit while peeing."

He looked me over for a moment as if to make sure himself. The uncharitable part of me thought, he never noticed anything before so why should now be different? A flash of hatred roiled up from a bottomless well and threatened to drag me under. A vision of reaching out one hand and choking my dad to death. The fury and the fire came and went so quickly that I could have almost thought I imagined it - if it weren't for the bad dreams...

"Okay," he said. "I'll see you in the morning then, Taylor."

"Good night, dad."

"Good night."

I retreated to my room and sat on the bed. I held my hands out in front of me and studied them. They were both fully intact. One was not a cybernetic replacement. And yet, if I closed my eyes and squeezed one of them, I could almost feel the human skull of one of those rebel scum powdering under my indomitable grip.

Worn out, and definitely too tired to be reliving these horrors in my waking moments, I lay back down and shut off the light. But sleep did not come easily.

~~JH~~

I can't go back to Winslo, I thought. It was day six AL (After Locker). This thought had been rolling around in my head since I woke up at the hospital. I snuck a glance at dad, who was reading the Brockton Daily while eating his porridge.

And yet, every time I thought it, the knowledge that there were no other options pressed down even harder on me. I can't go back, but if I don't go back, I can't stay home. I longed for a transfer to Arcadia. I didn't want friends. I just wanted to be left alone. Was that too much to ask? A vision of decapitating Emma, her head bouncing off her locker door before rolling down the hall filled my mind's eye. The red beam of my light sabre so hot and powerful that it cauterized the jugular instantly. I imagined her eyes roaming around frantically for the few seconds of life before she expired. Part of me was horrified, but part of me wore the death of others like an old, familiar cloak.

I got to my feet and ran to the bathroom. I slammed the door shut and knelt over the toilet bowl. My arms were trembling - actually my whole body was trembling. My porridge came up and drooled slowly out of my mouth and into the toilet. It was hot and burned, and made me feel both dizzy and sweaty and shaky.

"Taylor!"

"I'm fine," I spluttered through the vomit. "Just a..." I spat the last of the goo out and leaned back. I closed my eyes. I didn't have the energy to come up with another excuse.

"I'm calling the doctor," said my dad.

I leapt to my feet, my hands on the counter for support. I washed my mouth out lightning quick and burst through the door and down the hall. "Stop!" I shouted.

"Dad seemed to be on the war path however. He was still dialling. I lunged forward and hit the button to kill the call.

"Taylor," he said sharply. "This isn't normal. You're barely sleeping. You can't keep food down. I'm not stupid."

"They're going to call me crazy," I said. I surprised myself with how calm and steady my voice was. "There's nothing physically wrong with me, so they'll assume it's mental. You're going to spend a lot of money forcing me to go to doctors, and the best case scenario is that they force you to spend even more money on prescriptions that are going to turn me into a drooling vegetable."

"I have a drug plan," he said. "The meds'll be covered until you're 18."

I pursed my lips. "It hasn't even been a week," I said, changing tactics. "Don't you think you're being a little alarmist? Of course I'm going to have nightmares. Of course I'm going to have trouble eating. I still remember the feel of being trapped... the smells... the bugs. I don't need to be fussed over by strangers. I need time."

"Oh, Taylor," said my dad, finally relenting. He put the receiver down and came over and hugged me.

Again a fury as fierce and as swift as a tornado swept through me. How dare this vermin touch me. I do not require the pity of a worthless insect. I shook those thoughts away, but could not relieve the stiffness from my return hug.

"Do you need more time off school?" he asked, pulling back and looking me square in the eyes.

This was it, I thought. I could be free of Winslow forever. If I just say yes, I could ween myself off school. Home school, maybe? That was a thing, wasn't it?

"No," I replied. Those bitches would not break me. Where that thought came from I did not know.

Dad could not stop the surprise from showing on his face. "No? Are you sure?"

"Same thing," I said. "If I take too long, no doubt the students, the school - they're going to start pointing fingers. Either they'll call me a truant or crazy or worse."

"How much worse could it be?"

"They could accuse me of being in a gang," I said.

Dad took a moment to digest this notion. It was a testament to how rattled he was that he didn't dismiss it outright.

"Why would they think you're in a gang?" he asked finally.

"Don't look at me like that," I said irritated. "You know I'm not in a gang. But I overheard your conversation with their lawyer. They tried to claim that I locked myself in my locker. Is being in a gang any weirder than that?"

He nodded slowly. "Yeah, I suppose you're right."

"Good," I said. "It's settled then. Tomorrow I'll return to Winslow."

~~JH~~

I must have been smoking something to opt to return to this dump.

I'm not sure what happened in the past week, but it felt as if my perception of Winslow had been altered. Before, Winslow was a fact of life - a fixture as prevalent to my existence as breathing. I did not think about it. Now, I saw it in context. Winslow was a machine. It was created by the powers that be. Its function was to take the already vulnerable children of Brockton Bay and grind their potential down into dust. It fed its students to the gangs, to the whorehouses, to the dead-endn shit jobs that no one with a modicum of power in this city wanted. The thought I would willingly subject myself to this threatened to drown me in - I shook my head. It was getting easier to shrug off that phantom sensation of my other self - the darkm menacing, brooding cybernetic monstrosity. I was starting to understand him a little better. He was a volcano - all banked power, as immovable as a mountain but with an undercurrent of barelly contained explosive violence.

The moment I stepped in through the front doors, the whispers started. Actually, they probably started before I stepped in, but I only now was close enough to hear them.

"Holy - she's back-"

"What happened to her anyway?"

"Do you think she snapped?"

"Whatcha suppose Emma and her crowd're gonna do next?"

"-dunno - can't top the locker can they?"

I ignored them - barely. But all the self-control I had been practising was rapidly being thrown out the window. That rage monster - my dark half - was not in the least bit interested in tolerating this verbal assault. In a strange way, the notion that the creature lacked any kind of psycho-emotional restraint gave me some peace of mind. It was almost as if I could gain some distance from my own emotional pain by shunting it through him.

"Well, well, well," came Emma's sickly sweet voice. "Look at what the cat dragged in."

"Yeah, from the dumpster," said Clemens. She actually giggled at her own lousy joke.

Now I could see for the first time that Emma must have been waiting for me. The thought that she was actually going out of her way - wasting her time - on this... campaign - it gave me pause. I had never before had the presence of mind to cast myself in the mindset of others, and I realized, for the first time that, somehow, Emma had become terribly invested in these acts of aggression.

"-that's an insult to dumpsters everywhere. She's way worse than a dumpster."

"-she's probably got herpes-"

"Oh? You think she's a merchant whore maybe?"

"Like mother like daughter." That was Emma's contribution.

I stood there, as I always did. I surveyed my adversaries. They were too numerous to engage in combat, and they were doing that thing where they spoke to each other. It didn't matter, I thought. They wanted me to react. I needed to choose my battles more carefully. They thought they were masters at warfare. I would show them.

I brushed past Emma, just hard enough to let her know that I was prepared to get physical, but not enough to cause harm. I also made sure to walk away quickly enough to ensure that I did not spark an altercation that would actually lead to physical conflict. I would lose in that engagement too. Still, it was important to let Emma know that I was prepared to return fire. Already, I was beginning to formulate plans and contingencies. Their power over me stemmed from the fact that I feared reprisal from the school. I would not go out of my way to get myself in trouble with Blackwell, but I already began the process of relinquishing any attachment to the idea that I cared about suspensions or expulsions.

It was in the middle of math class that something truly weird happened. Mr. Henderson was showing us how to calculate distance, acceleration, time and velocity through various equations. I was working my way through the questions in a sort of daze. I already knew I was going to have to go home and redo all the answers once I had a chance to review the lessons I missed from last week. Julia, one of the bitches reached over to snatch my worksheet from my desk. My hand snapped out and caught her by the wrist. My thumbnail was already poised to stab into the soft flesh and pierce the vein before I realized what I'd done. Julia stared at me wide-eyed and squeaked.

I looked up, my hand still gripping hers. Mr. Henderson's gaze was drawn to us. He frowned and started over. "Miss Hebert, Julia, what seems to be the problem."

He's on a first name basis with her? How is that fair? I thought irritably.

"Taylor attacked me," Julia said promptly.

"She tried to steal my homework," I replied.

Henderson came over and looked down at the tableau. "Let her go please, Miss Hebert."

I released her, but I could not fully conceal the smile when I noticed her skin was already purpling where my thumb had pressed into her wrist.

"I was just checking to see if she needed help," said Julia in an aggrieved tone. "You know, because she skipped school for the whole of last week."

I tamped down on my emotions.

"I didn't ask for your help, and you didn't offer it," I replied.

But Mr. Henderson was no longer paying attention, and I realized belatedly that he was studying my worksheet.

"Miss Hebert, what is this?"

I looked down at the worksheet and stared blankly at the foreign script. It's Galactic Basic, you cretin, were the words that tried to leap off my tongue. But that would not go over well. "I was just...," I struggled to come up with something that would explain the incomprehensible scribbles before settling on, "...doodling."

"Miss Hebert," said Mr. Henderson with half-sympathy half-sternness, "You already missed a week. Doodling is the last thing you should be doing. Please pay attention to the lesson." He turned away. I sensed more than saw Julia open her mouth to say something, but it proved unnecessary, for Mr. Henderson continued, "And if you touch another student or make any gesture of a threatening manner, I'm going to have to report you to the principal."

The remainder of the lesson passed without further incident, but I could feel Julia's hooded gaze on me. She was going to tell Emma something, though what exactly I did not know. If her only concern was to relay the incident of physical violence, I did not care. But if she sensed that the script in my worksheet had some greater import... I could not let that take root.

This time, when the vision of Julia's corpse came to mind, I did not dismiss it immediately. It was only after I concluded that such an action was entirely unfeasible that I reluctantly let it go. I stared down at the script and studied it objectively. I had told Mr. Henderson that it was doodling. Julia would have heard me. Obviously Mr. Henderson did not care, for any competent observer would see that the lines and dots and curves had an order to it that did not conform with doodling. A competent observer, I decided, would conclude that it was in fact a language, or, at least, a simulacrum of a language. This opened up so many questions I did not quite know where to begin.

If called upon to answer questions about it, I could pretend it was a fictional language. I had heard of those - like something from a fantasy novel. But if pressed, I would not be able to provide further details, and my lie would fall apart. That would not matter. I doubted Emma or her cronies would probe that deeply. It was more if a person in authority asked questions. I envisioned a scenario where they told the police I was plotting to kill someone and these were my coded notes.

I put my books away and stepped out of class. If it came down to it, I could call it a cipher of my own creation, and simply translate from Basic to English. They would be quite amazed to discover that it was in fact answers to my high school math problems. But that still wasn't perfect. It would mean outing me in some way. It wasn't normal to construct an entire language. It had the hallmark of a cape phenomenon.

It was a testament to how stressful my life was that my first ten minutes pondering this development was to plan all the ways of making sure that Emma did not find a way to use this quirk to screw me over. Because I knew one thing for certain, and that was that I did not invent a cipher. Somehow, between last week and now, I had acquired knowledge of an entirely new language - one I was certain did not exist anywhere in the known world. It had to be connected to my dark half somehow.

If it were true that I had magically acquired knowledge of a language, I wondered if there was other knowledge that lurked within the depths of my mind that I had yet to unlock. After all, this could only mean that I was a cape - I dared to hope - the very feeling of hope was alien to me. It felt like something that had withered away long ago was blossoming anew, its delicate petals unfurling, and I was suddenly terrified that I would be proven wrong - that I would not in fact be a cape - and that I would experience a betrayal so terrible that I would be damaged forever more.

I saw Emma down the hall - she was waiting for me. I slowed and gazed down at my bookbag. If Julia told her about Math class... I debated turning around and running away, or simply walking right by her and skipping going to my locker altogether, but if I actively avoided Emma, it would only egg her on. And if she did report it to an authority figure - if she managed to convince someone to investigated -if someone concluded that I was a cape. No, I thought grimly. I had to make sure this stayed under wraps. At all cost. I stared down at my bag contemplatively.

It wrangled. Especially since I had resolved to fight back. But now things were different. Secrecy was paramount.

I picked up speed and went straight for my locker. Emma was a mere six feet away. She was surrounded by her friends, and had an air of bored indifference. I thumbed the dial on my lock until I set on the right combinations. The next thing I knew, I was pitching sideways. I hit the ground on all fours, but the force of it knocked the breath from me. My glasses skittered just past my reach, having landed next to Emma's boot. With what felt like prescience, I saw Emma's boot come down and crush my glasses under her heel a moment before it actually happened.

"Oops," said Emma in a falsely sweet voice. I slowly climbed to my feet. My shoulder ached. My palms were scraped where I hit the floor.

Sophia was suddenly there. She must have been the one to bodycheck me. She grabbed me by the shoulder. I expected her to drive me back down to the floor, but, surprisingly, she helped me up, albeit roughly. "No fighting in the halls, Hebert. Only your first day back and you're already causing trouble. Apologize."

"Apologize?" I said incredulously. sophia was smirking. "You broke my glasses."

"I totally did not," said Sophia heatedly. "You're a clutz. You broke your own glasses. If you hadn't gotten in my way."

She's trying to distract me, was the thought that zinged through my brain. I whirled around, and sure enough, Julia was there behind us. She was zipping shut my bag and was now walking it over to me.

"Here, Taylor," she said. "I was just helping you out. Even though you're a grade A bitch."

"You're calling me a bitch?" I said. I could already tell from the weight of the bag that at least one book was missing. Of course they'd have Julia rifle through my things. She knew what book to look for. But if I accused her, it would only be confirmation that I believed there was something worth hiding.

Even worse, I could see that she didn't have my workbook on her. They'd planned this well. No doubt she'd passed it off to - I glanced down the hall - whoever it was must have sprinted out of sight after Julia handed the book off to them. I flexed my hand. The urge to deliver apocalyptic vengeance upon these worms was overwhelming. But no, the book was gone. I had no proof. I did not even know who took it or where it was. They wouldn't throw it away, of course, but they would not make it easy for me to find them.

"Just leave me alone." I turned back to my locker. It's only proof that I created a cipher, I thought. It means nothing. I kept telling myself this. They would no doubt investigate to see if there was something there that could incriminate me.

No doubt my moment of resistance this morning had fueled their reprisal. Not that they needed fuel, but this was a little much - especially for the first day back from the last horrible prank.

I grabbed my things for the next class and soldiered on.

~~JH~~

It wasn't pretty, I decided, but it would do. Miraculously, Emma had only cracked the frame of my glasses. I just spent thirty minutes carefully taping the frames back together and affixing the lenses in place. It wasn't quite as firm as it was before, but so long as I didn't get into any fights, they should be fine.

It was Monday evening, and I had been home for about an hour after that nightmare of a school day. Four more of those until the weekend. Still, I felt energized. The thought that I might be a cape carried me through the rest of the day.

I sat down on my bed with a notepad. Here was my first test. If I learned a language by magic, then I probably was a thinker. At least, that's how I thought these things worked. Surely there would have to be other things that I knew that were more useful. Usually thinkers were able to pull information out of thin air. I let my mind wander. I relaxed my fingers and tried to meditate.

I had never tried meditating before. There was one time when I was young - Emma and I tried putting each other into a hypnotic trance. It hadn't worked then, and I had instinctively discarded the whole field as a useless bunch of new age nonsense. Even now, I mostly assumed that all I would accomplish was falling asleep. I recalled that partially dozy state from the morning's Math class. I had been aware of what I was doing, but half my mind had been elsewhere to. It was like I was thinking of two different things simultaneously. Slowly, inexorably, my grip on my pen and notepad loosened, and the muscles around my jaw became relaxed. It felt as though I was slipping into a warm stream. The deeper I sank, the more it became harder to distinguish where I ended and the rest of the world began.

An image bloomed in my mind's eye. Emma was in a coffee shop. Sophia was with her. They were huddled over my workbook, lattes and espressos half-finished next to them. Sophia asked Emma a question to which Emma merely shook her head. However, I could not hear the words. I pushed harder at the image to try to tease sound out of it, but the image blurred. There was a tugging sensation, and then the image resolved into a night-time scene. The wind nipped icily. A man was lying in a pool of blood, a masked figure holding a crossbow standing over him. My heart jumped as I recognized Shadowstalker from before she was a ward. The image blurred once more, and I was staring down at Shadow Stalker once more. She was kneeling in supplication? Defeat? Armsmaster was there and a cord was wrapped around her.

The scenes bounced from one to the next with no order or cohesion. I did not know if I was looking at the past or the future or the present - if I was looking at fantasy or reality. The final scene settled on me in the darkened halls of Winslow. It was night. The only illumination was the octinic glare of lightning which streamed from my hands. Shadowstalker was writhing in agony near me, smoke rising from her cooking flesh. My eyes were a sickly yellow.

The slamming of the door downstairs jerked me from my trance.

"Taylor?" That was my dad.

I checked the clock on my bedside table. It was 6:30 already. I leapt out of bed, the notebook and pen tumbling carelessly to the floor. I hadn't even started dinner.

"Taylor!" Now there was a note of worry in his voice.

"Coming!" I shouted as I pounded down the steps. A second later I was in the front hall and slamming into my dad. I hugged him with enough force to squeeze the stuffing out of him.

"Whoa!" he exclaimed. "Easy there. You're bending my ribs."

"I'm sorry about dinner," I said, pulling back. "It was a bit of a rough day, and I lost track of time. I came home and just needed some rest."

"S'okay," he said, smoothing out my hair. "I figured as much." He nudged a paper bag in my direction, and I suddenly realized that the smell of pizza was filling the hallway.

"Thanks," I said, and was surprised to discover that I meant it. It was thoughtful of him, and rather astute. Even if he didn't know that I came home and lost track of time rushing to examine my strange cape powers, he had still sensed that I was in distress and anticipated that I wouldn't be in a state to cook.

I took the pizza boxes to the kitchen and began setting the table.

"Mushroom and anchovies," I said, smiling. "Thanks."

"That's not all," he said, pulling out a DVD. "I picked up one of those Earth Aleph blockbusters you're so fond of. We'll take our pizza to the living room and watch some television, yeah?"

I peered at the title: Mission Impossible. "Sounds perfect."

The movie was brain junk food. It had a suitable number of explosions, and both the protagonist and antagonist belted out anguished screams of rage and despair at appropriate times until, in the final climactic sequence, the antagonist was tossed from a great height and sent plummeting to his doom.

Sated and relaxed, I snuggled down under a blanket. Dad looked relaxed too, but I could see a sort of pensive look on his face. I imagined him struggling with whether to ask me how my day went. On the one hand, it was a fatherly thing to do. He had a right and an obligation to ask. But on the other hand, it would threaten the tranquility of the moment.

"It was okay, dad," I said suddenly. The feel of the silence breaking was jarring, but I persevered. "School, I mean. The bullies were there, and they hassled me a bit. It wasn't anything I couldn't handle."

He digested my words. "I'd like to make an appointment to see your principal. I'd like to hear what they're going to do to make sure that this doesn't happen again."

My gut instinct was to refuse. Getting the adults involved wasn't going to help me. It'd never helped me before. Deep down though, I knew that that wasn't the real reason. I didn't want any attention drawn to me. I had a secret, and slowly my biggest fear was becoming that someone would find out about it. It was mine, and I felt a jealous, irrational urge to hold onto it. At least... until I was ready. But the thought struck me that, strategically, it was better to let dad have his moment of sound and fury. That would do more to misdirect people's attention; especially in light of the strange Math class incident.

The image of Emma pouring over my workbook returned to me. She was really invested in me for some reason. Either she craved the feelings that cutting me down brought or she was searching for something. The former seemed to be the easier answer, but the thought of her spending time in a coffee shop studying Galactic Basic - it didn't fit. It was too much energy for someone who wanted to feel big by picking on someone else. There was the rub. I needed to deflect her attention away from me. Letting my dad take point would do that. It would reaffirm to her and Sophia that I was a nobody who needed to hide behind daddy when the going got tough. I couldn't help but sneer. I never even had a dad. I shook that thought away. Of course I had a dad...

When I finally returned to the present, I saw my dad was studying me with an assessing gaze.

"Okay," I said simply. "Do I need to be there?"

"I'm not sure," he said. He seemed to mull it over before saying, "It might be best if you were not. There are things I can say when you're not in the room that I could not if you are present."

That statement was puzzling and offensive. Did he think that I couldn't handle the truth? Was he going to use profanity? I was just about to object, or possibly ask for clarification, when the knowledge seemed to float up from the recesses of my dark half. In a negotiation, it is useful to be able to make statements about the aggrieved party that are indefensible by virtue of the fact that the party is not present to answer questions.

My dad was watching me as I opened my mouth and then shut it.

"Also, the school's lawyers are offering to pay for your medical bills," he said. "They are refusing to pay for anything else."

It was my turn to digest this bit of information. That was... disappointing. Hell, it was infuriating. The worst part was that my dad was only bringing it up because he was seriously considering accepting their offer.

He went on, "I spoke to a lawyer. She said that the problem was that a lawsuit to recover damages would likely succeed, but that it could be potentially years before we actually saw any of that money. She also mentioned that, while your situation was bad, so many people are injured due to cape fights that people are desensitized to violence - even violence against teens."

"I get it," I said. My good mood was evaporating quickly, and part of me resented dad for even bringing this stuff up. "I wish we could get some extra money, but I was never holding my breath for it. If you want to take a settlement, it's fine with me."

He nodded. "I'm really sorry."

"It's fine," I said, and it was mostly fine, I decided. The locker was horrible, and I couldn't say I was grateful for it, but the fact I had powers was going a long way in cooling my heels. It was going to put me on track to making something of myself... so long as no one found out.

~~JH~~

Emma threw Taylor's workbook in the garbage. She'd debated maybe doing something with it, but decided it would look like she was trying too hard. After all, it was just a workbook. Apparently a workbook with weird scribbles. She and Sophia had poured over it, and had concluded that it was likely a code of some kind. But why Taylor was encoding her own notes - in her schoolbook was a complete mystery.

"Come on," said Sophia. "I gotta get to You-Know_Where."

"Yeah," she said. "What a waste."

"Not totally," said Sophia thoughtfully. "You know what a trigger event is?"

Emma rolled her eyes as they stepped out into the frigid January air. She pulled her coat around her more tightly. "Obviously. I'm not a complete retard."

Sophia snorted. "Yeah, yeah. Anyway, the locker thing... could've been a trigger."

"You think Taylor might be a cape?"

"Maybe." Sophia furrowed her brow in thought. "Triggers are supposed to be the worst day of your life. Taylor's such a dweeb that getting stuffed in her locker probably counts."

"Don't they say that Glory Girl got her powers when she was fouled on the basketball court?" Emma asked.

Sophia nodded. "Exactly. So the locker thing could've made her trigger."

"And her power is what? Scribbling gibberish?"

"She'd have to be a thinker of some kind. Cryptography, maybe? Maybe she's good at something that we just don't understand."

Emma sighed in frustration. That'd been the premise that had provoked them to steal her stupid book and spend two hours puzzling over it. Emma wouldn't have even thought to do it except that Taylor had acted weird in the morning. Taylor had always tried to ignore Emma and her taunts - that'd been part of the fun - just watching Taylor's expressive face display the full range of her emotions even as she tried pathetically to effect an air of nonchalance. It was everything Emma had hated in herself; everything she was determined to crush out of her former friend.

But this morning, Taylor had looked - not indifferent - there was still a reaction. It was just that Taylor had seemed angry... irritated... contemptuous. And then she'd done something she'd never done before - she'd bodychecked Emma. It hadn't been a serious hit, but it had the weight of decisiveness behind it. This was not the actions of a Taylor who was testing her chains. This was a Taylor who had already broken free. So when Sophia suggested that Taylor might have become a cape, Emma didn't dismiss it out of hand as she might have otherwise done.

"How do we find out?" Emma asked.

"Push her," said Sophia. "Then you'll know. The problem is, if she's a thinker, it won't be as obvious as if she was a brute. Then you'd expect to have your face caved in."

"My face caved in?" Emma asked, wide-eyed. "That - she wouldn't."

"No, 'cause she ain't a brute," said Sophia. "But see, the problem is that, in some ways, thinkers are worse. They can mess with you in other ways."

Emma thought about it. "So if we push her to try to reveal her powers, she might retaliate."

Sophia nodded grimly.

"But she'd retaliate anyway just because of what we've done to her in the past."

"Maybe," said Sophia. They were just coming up to the edge of the Boardwalk, where they would have to part ways. "Some capes get revenge, but it's usually in the heat of the moment. Most of them, when they've cooled off, they just want to put their past life behind them, you know?"

Emma considered this. "I get it. Like me."

Sophia smiled, but there was no warmth in it. "Exactly."

But I didn't get powers, Emma thought, and a pang of misery struck her as it had done so many times before when the thought crossed her mind.

Soon Sophia was gone, and Emma trudged home on her own. The walk was not particularly far, and it was through a good part of town, and it was still daylight out. Still, whenever she was alone and outdoors, there was always a feeling of vulnerability. She hated that feeling. It made her itch to have Taylor nearby, to cut her down. Truth be told, it was in these moments that she came up with her most inspired barbs, her cruelest words, her most daring plans to humiliate Taylor.

Taylor... a cape. In a sense, Sophia was telling Emma to back off from Taylor. Unconsciously, Emma found herself shaking her head. She couldn't do that. She knew intellectually that she and Taylor could never be friends again. Emma had done too much to her. She could even admit that the deranged, abusive relationship she had formed with Taylor was not really healthy. She just couldn't help it. She needed Taylor. She needed her to be there.

No, she thought. I can't let go of Taylor Hebert. And if she felt a certain premonition of ill fortune from the course she was setting for herself, she set it aside and told herself it was just the winter chill and nothing more.

~~JH~~

I held out my hands just as I had seen in my vision. I willed with all my might for lightning to lash out and incinerate the empty soda can I had placed on the workbench in the basement. Nothing happened. Sighing, I took a seat and stared at the bare concrete floor.

It was Saturday now, and I had spent the last five days obsessively entering into a meditative trance and subjecting myself to these strange visions. In the beginning, I had tried writing down what I was seeing, but soon gave it up as a bad job. The visions tended to flit from scene to scene, and there was very little information to be gleaned from them. I still didn't know if they were the past, present, the future, or some alternative reality. For all I knew, they were figments of my imagination. No, I thought firmly. They're not figments. They had too much the feel of visions. They were something special. The only problem was that harnessing their potential was proving to be... problematic. The harder I tried to focus on a given scene, the quicker it slipped from my grasp. It was like trying to grip water.

I perked up at that last thought. Maybe I was going about it all wrong. Maybe I needed to coax the visions. I'd been trying to control them... but maybe I needed to be like a birdwatcher - still and calm and silent. Maybe my emotions were the thing getting in the way. Maybe when I got excited, it disturbed whatever energy let me tap into the visions.

That last thought felt strange, but also felt like it had the ring of truth. Some of the visions showed me fighting, and sometimes I was casting blue lightning and other times green lightning. Sometimes I had a light sabre and sometimes I didn't. Sometimes I had waves of rage rolling off me and other times I was as calm as a glacier. All I knew was that, if the visions were to be taken to be real, then it meant that I could do more than just have visions. It meant that I could see futures, and it meant that I could blast and move... It all sounded too good to be true.

I had never heard of other capes having difficulties understanding their power. I spent an afternoon at the library researching the very issue. Capes who talked about it reported that they seemed to just know how their power worked. It was frustrating, but I was committed to figuring this out.

I was starting to think that my power wasn't visions specifically, but rather I was tapping into this energy stream. Somehow, I could bend this stream to my will, and the stream let me do a bunch of different things... like the visions. I began practising with renewed vigor.

~~JH~~

It was next Wednesday 16 days AL, when something weird happened. I had been practising submerging myself in the energy stream so religiously that it was becoming easier and easier to do so. It was coming to the point that I could tap into the stream casually - even while I was at school. It still meant that I was a little distracted. The bitches didn't hesitate to try to use this against me - "Drugs, Taylor?" Occasionally, I thought I saw Sophia giving me speculative glances.

It was in the middle of gym class that it happened. We were being subjected to a round of Dodgeball, which meant open season on Taylor Hebert, as far as the class was concerned. Anyone who wanted to score points with the Queen B was looking for a good hit. The girls went at it with relish, but the boys were a little more circumspect. That was cold comfort, since Sophia was quick and ruthless and struck hard.

There had been occasions in the past when I had let myself be hit, and could duck out of the game early. That tended to lead to more jeers - no doubt retribution for robbing my bullies of their fun. Today though, it felt like I was on fire. Emma tossed the ball hard in my direction. I ducked, and felt the air from the ball swish my hair as it arced a hair's breadth overhead. Six seconds later, Trina, a distant hanger-on, tossed the ball in my direction. I angled my body sideways in the nick of time, again letting the ball eek by me. This happened two more times before others started to notice.

Someone tried to throw the ball at my ankles from behind. I didn't see the ball. I didn't hear it. I just closed my eyes and jumped. The ball skipped past me and tagged Greg. The ball rolled off to one side. There were still three other balls in play, so most of the class was too busy to notice, but the people around me stopped and stared. When I opened my eyes, I stared back. It took me a second for my brain to follow the train of thought.

The teacher came over and said, "Excellent show, Miss Hebert. Withmoves like that , you might consider joining the gymnastics team."

"Uh, thanks."

"Delyla, please go pick up the ball. We still have five minutes left."

The game resumed, but my mind was still on the last jump. It was only now, as the tension left me, that I realized I had been gently tugging on the - I still didn't have a good name for it - the entire time. I forced myself to let it go. Immediately, I felt a subtle sluggishness creep over me. Muscles that hadn't ached before were now piping up. I could no longer track the motion of the ball with the same ease; could no longer move with the same grace to avoid it. Before I knew what was happening, the ball whipped toward me at high speed and struck me on the head. There was so much force that I went sprawling to the floor. My ears were ringing, and my head was pounding. I stared at the red arc of the 3-point line for a second before rolling over. Sophia was smirking at me in a way that told me she was the one that had thrown the ball hard enough to injure me. I cast aside that old familiar anger, and picked myself up.

"Seems your luck ran out, Hebert," said Sophia casually as I limped past her.

"Fuck you, Hess," I muttered. She gave me a hard push that threatened to send me sprawling again.

I made my way to the benches and watched as the game wound up. It was hardly a surprise that both Sophia and Emma were in the last five. Emma got tagged. Sophia and another boy duked it out for the final show, with Sophia tagging him seconds before the bell rang.

I was about to trudge into the locker room, when the teacher pulled me aside. "Looks like you got a nasty bruise there," she said. "Go to the nurse's office first, and then you can come back and wash up."

I sighed and nodded. "Yes, Ms. Harder."

While I sat in the nurse's office being fussed over, I pondered the Dodgebal game. That hadn't been luck, I thought. I reached for the force once more and gently touched it. There was a cool wash of relief. It was subtle, but now that I was looking for it, I could tell that it wasn't merely a figment of my imagination. The energy really was soothing my aches. I played with the force for a bit, testing it this way and that. I managed to tune the force so that the headache vanished. I barely even felt the bruise.

"Hmm," said the nurse. "It must not have been as severe as I thought. The bruising is almost gone. Are you feeling any dizziness? Nausea? Sensitivity to light?"

"I shook my head to all the questions. I didn't want to remain there longer than I had to.

Seeming satisfied that I didn't have a concussion, the nurse shooed me away. The halls were quiet. The mad rush to leave school had come and gone. There were a few guys at the far end - that was the E88 corner, and I swerved to avoid them. I didn't know what they were hanging around at school for, and I didn't want to find out. Or did I? I was a cape now. Spying on gang members, beating them up - that was what I was destined for.

I shook my head. It was way too early to be thinking of that. Even though, deep down, I longed to go out and be a superhero, I knew I was nowhere near ready. I just found out I was a mover and maybe even a regenerator and some kind of thinker. But still, my powers were so minor that I wouldn't be able to even prove I was a parahuman. I could only hope that my powers would become more impressive in time. This was something I not only hoped for, but believed in. When I submerged myself in the stream-force-thing, it felt as though it was an endless reservoir of potential. Today, I had barely drawn on it at all. What would happen if I could take it all in at once? Was that even possible? I was determined to find out. And quickly. The students who saw me would pass it off as a fluke - Sophia had helped in that regard, I had to grudgingly admit that. Somehow though, I didn't think that either Sophia or Emma would be fooled. They'd be watching me even harder now.

As I changed in the locker, I realized that they might even start testing me.

"Nice game."

I whirled around to come face to face with Sophia. I hadn't even heard her come in - had she been waiting here for me all this time?

"Yeah," I said slowly, my mind racing. I mustn't give anything away.

"Nice moves."

I shrugged and finished putting on my clothes. Normally I would have showered, but it was getting late, and the only thing left to do was to go home. "I guess."

"You learn a martial art or something?"

I snorted. "When would I do that?" I hurried to get my clothes on and get out of there. Sophia was fishing. Attack, whispered a voice in my head. "What do you care anyway? Scared I'm gonna smack you down?" I said.

"As if," said Sophia. "I just wanted to know if maybe you've decided to grow a pair."

"Fuck off," I said, sneering. "You're a pathetic loser who needs to pick on others to feel big about yourself." I headed for the door, but Sophia was suddenly there, blocking my way.

Instinctively, I reached out for the force. My whole body was suddenly thrumming with tension though whether it was from the energy filling me or the anticipation of violence, or both, I didn't know.

"Big words," said Sophia. There was something dangerous in her expression. her eyes seemed to glitter. She was looking for a fight. She was excited.

"You're a psycho, you know that?" I said, forcibly calming myself. My bloodlust was up too, and I knew it was a bad thing. If we fought, not only would I risk outing myself, but I would lose. Sophia was strong and fast, and she had the administration on her side. I would lose in every way. I'd get beat up. The administration would probably suspend me. My dad would be disappointed.

"You're a pathetic loser, Hebert. Everyone can see it but you. I'm amazed you came back to Winslow." She looked me over with an assessing gaze.

"Get out of my way."

"Make me."

"Seriously?" I asked. "You want to get in a fight here?"

"It won't be much of a fight."

"Take your best shot then," I replied. "I have a reason to be here, Hess. You don't. You can't hide behind Blackwell's coattails forever."

This last statement actually got a reaction. Sophia looked murderous for a moment, and I was sure violence was about to erupt. But then the moment passed and Sophia stepped away from the door.

"Go on then, run like the little bitch you are."

There'll come a time, I thought, when I'm going to make you eat those words. But that day wasn't today. I left.

As I waited for the bus to go home, I let my grip on the force ease. The encounter with Sophia had been odd. It still wasn't clear to me if Sophia thought I was a cape. If she did, why would she antagonize me like that? If Ihad powers, she ought to know better, unless she was so convinced I wouldn't fight back that she had confidence to threaten me even if I was a ccape. In a way, it reminded me again just how committed they were to making my life miserable. Sophia had basically wasted like thirty minutes waiting for me to show up in the locker room to have that private chat. She must have wanted it to be private. It was the first time she'd ever done something like that. Sophia was the sort that only bothered with crimes of opportunity.

In a way, I suppose I could see it as flattering that she'd committed so much time to have that conversation. There'd always been something about Sophia -a swagger - a confidence - that I'd never seen in anyone else. She acted as though she wasn't afraid of even the gangs - not even Empire 88. It felt like there was a realization just beyond the periphery of my senses - if I could only reach out and grasp it...

~~JH~~

"Hey, kiddo," dad said, throwing his jacket over the sofa. "Smells good."

I dished up the spaghetti onto plates and set the table. "It's just pasta, dad."

"It's pasta made by my loving daughter." He sat down and began eating.

I took a seat across from him and followed suit.

"I met with Principal Blackwell today," he said. "That's why I was a little late coming home."

I nodded. This was not unexpected.

"She basically said she can't do much."

This wasn't a surprise. I had stopped expecting others to solve my problems for me. Still, it hurt not only because of Blackwell, but because of the thin hope that my dad could have done something.

"She recognizes that the locker incident was at least a traumatic incident," he went on. "She's willing to recommend you to Arcadia. The only problem is that Arcadia has academic admissions standards that you do not meet."

I was about to protest when my dad raised a hand.

"I explained that your grades are a result of the bullying campaign. However, Blackwell needs more than my word. She is willing to let you write equivalency tests in the four core subjects of science, math, social studies, and english. If you can achieve an average of 3.7 across the 4 subjects, you'll be transferred immediately to Arcadia."

I took a deep breath. It wasn't punishment for the bitches, but it was in some ways even better. Still, four equivalency tests... "When would I be expected to write these tests?"

"Whenever you're ready," Dad said. "The transfer to Arcadia can occur inside of a week."

"If I don't make the grade to get into Arcadia, will the test scores at least count to my overall grade at Winslow?"

"I didn't ask her that," he admitted. "I'm sorry. I should have."

"S'okay," I mumbled, thinking. I didn't know if it was worth the bother. My instinct was to decline. However, something was egging me on. At first, I thought it was stubbornness, but as I felt my way through the emotions, I came to realize with slowly dawning astonishment that the sense of anticipation was coming from the force. I studied the feelings intensely - yes - the force was urging me to accept the Arcadia challenge. I was about to agree, but hesitated. Just because my power wanted me to go wasn't actually a reason to do it. But still, this could be some form of precognition - a power to guide me to the better result - I never heard of cape powers steering people wrong. "Okay," I said finally before I could second guess myself any further. "I'll take the test."

~~JH~~

I don't know what the hell I was thinking. I'd had to spend the last 3 days studying like mad. The only thing keeping me up was the force. I was alone on a Monday afternoon. Students were having detention in a neighbouring class. Mr. Gladley was supposed to check up on me every twenty minutes or so. I pulled the cap off my pen and got to work.

"Describe six causes of the collapse of the USSR," I muttered. I put pen to paper and began writing down the answer. I had to make a conscious effort to keep from reverting to Aurebesh. Despite that, the force lent me the power to deliver smooth, sure pen strokes. My brain worked faster, I remembered more things more clearly, and analyzed the information logically. Even better, when it came to multiple choice, I got the distinct impression that my power was jumping me to the right answer without me actually having to do the work. They had given me two hours to do the test, but when I looked up at the clock, only 75 minutes had passed. If I told Mr. Gladley that I was done, he would no doubt be suspicious - especially since he hadn't been in the room with me the entire time - so there could have been a means of cheating - if I had been bothered to try to come up with one.

I re-read my answers carefully, but found that there was not even a typo that needed correction. Not only that, but my handwriting had somehow improved... My power included super-handwriting. I had to giggle at the image of using super-handwriting powers to try to fight Lung.

"Everything good in here?" Gladley was poking his head through the door.

I looked up at the clock. Twenty minutes left. That was probably good enough. "I think I'm done," I said. I put my pen down.

Gladley glanced at the clock and seemed to do the mental arithmetic I expected of him. He seemed to be satisfied that it was reasonable for me to have finished by now. "Are you sure you don't want a bit more time to go over your answers?"

I hesitated. If I gave him the impression I already looked over the answers, he would be suspicious.

"I was just doing that," I said. "I thought maybe you wanted to leve early. I don't want to keep you here unnecessarily... Mr. G."

He beamed at me. "It's no problem, Taylor. Take your time. I'll come back in twenty minutes. I will have to insist that I can't let you have extra time though."

"No problem, Mr. G," I said, smiling in a half-placating, half-sycophantic way that I'd seen Madison do a million times before. Gladley ate it up and left. The moment the door closed, the smile vanished, and I scowled. Another twenty minutes of twiddling my thumbs.

Ah well, I thought. I slipped more deeply into the force. These days, my connection to the force was always open. I was almost always tapping into it to some degree. It was still impossible to fully immerse myself without due preparation, but I felt that the day was coming when I would have enough grasp of it to begin doing truly extraordinary things. The visions had shown me events both wondrous and terrifying. Of them, it showed me leaping fifty feet into the air. It showed me casting lightning from my fingertips. It also showed me levitating objects, and, in one horrifying instance, choking a man to death.

I reached out with the force, trying to project it from the ethereal mental landscape to the physical world. I tried not to let the frustration get to me. Learning to use my power was 99% stumbling around in the dark and 1% partial successes. The idea that weeks had gone by and I still could barely even do anything capeworthy was frustrating. A part of me couldn't help but feel that maybe Emma was right - I really was so useless I couldn't even get being a cape right.

I forced myself to calm down, to relax. Trying to grab the force as though it were a ball had never worked. I learned that lesson with my visions. Instead, I immersed myself in it and tried to expand outward. This time, I didn't try to expand the force outward. I didn't try to bend it. Rather I expanded myself outward, as though the force and I were one. Instead of causing things to levitate, something else extraordinary happened. I felt ripples in the stream - in my consciousness. At first it was just a few, but, as my awareness continued to expand, dozens filled my sense. I focused on the one nearest to me. There were a stirring of thoughts and feelings. I continued to examine it, and was startled when it began to move. I followed it. It was ahead of me, but turning a corner and approaching...

"Taylor?"

I looked up, startled. Mr. Gladley was back in the doorway. Oh. My. God. I felt nearly catatonic with the realization that I was sensing Mr. Gladley. But I wasn't just sensing his presence - had I been inside his mind? Even now, the connection lingered, and I could feel his concern/impatience at me.

"Fine," I managed. "I'm done, Mr. G."

"Okay," he said, and the relief in his tone was echoed through my power. He really hated confrontation. He was bullied as a teenager. He doesn't like what's happening to me and hates himself a little bit for not having the guts to stop what's happening to me.

Whoa, I thought, shuttting off the connection. I sneaked a peek at him, but if my intrusion into his mind affected him in any way, he didn't show it.

"Okay," he said cheerily. "You're free to go. Mrs. Reese will be monitoring you for tomorrow's exam."

"When do I get to know how I did?" I asked, gesturing at the papers.

He looked down at her work. "Once I'm done grading this, I'll be handing it over to Principal Blackwell for final review and she'll be responsible for discussing your results with you." He paused, and I sensed his indecision and guilt war with his desire to leave. Finally, he added, "I really hope this works out for you, Taylor. I hope you get that transfer and that you'll thrive at Arcadia."

"Me too," I said. "I studied really hard these past few days." And then, deciding it couldn't hurt to grease the wheels, "And I want to thank you for being such a good teacher, Mr. G. Despite everything, I lerned a lot from you this year."

He smiled, and I could feel both a sense of pride for me as well as his own guilt surge. "You're a good kid, Taylor. I'll see you next class."

I sat back in my chair and followed him with my mind as he left the building. His signature faded gradually from my senses as he drove No, that wasn't right. His signature was still there, but it was becoming harder to distinguish amidst all the other signatures - all the other people. I was growing giddy with excitement. If I could refine this ability, it would make me a devastating thinker. I imagined following supervillains back to their lair. I remembered one of my first visions - that of Shadowstalker. Maybe my power was telling me that I could be a bad ass cape like her.

~~JH~~

I took to obsessively stalking Emma with my mind. This was especially so since, over the next few days, I felt a growing sense of malevolent anticipation. she was gearing up for something big. It was on Friday afternoon, when I felt her at the other end of the school - that was Principal Blackwell's office, and a sense of foreboding washed over me. I couldn't tell if I was being paranoid, or if my power was warning me that trouble was descending upon me. All I knew is that I was standing even before the door opened.

"Miss Hebert is supposed to report to the principal's office."

"Someone at the back of the class made an oohing noise, and someone else snicggered. I grabbed my things and stormed out. I could feel Blackwell's concern, frustration, and exhaustion. She was not looking forward to this anymore than I was.

"Let me guess," I said, throwing the door open, "Someone is claiming I cheated on those tests."

"I'm afraid it's more than just a claim," said Blackwell wearily. "Some of your answers were right out of the textbook. There's no way you could have regurgitated the answers verbatim."

"I studied," I said, enunciating the word with as much force as I could. Blackwell was a whirl of emotions, but she was gathering herself to fortify her resolve. I reached out angrily at her mind and stabbed at it. I had never done this before. I had always been cautious about not interfering with someone's mental presence.. I didn't know what it would do. I didn't know if I would hurt them, or irreparably damage them, or do something that would cause them to think they had been the subject of a parahuman attack. That way lay the birdcage. But this time, I couldn't help it.

Blackwell visibly reeled. Her gaze lost focus. She lost her train of thought, and she required seconds to compose herself. "I'm sorry," she went on. "I can't send these test scores off to Arcadia. In fact, I'm going to be putting a disciplinary note in your file."

Furious, I reached out and squeezed Blackwell's mind. "No, you won't," I said, and the glacial tone of my voice startled even me. "You'll forward the results on to Arcadia, and you'll recommend me for the transfer."

Blackwell's gaze glazed over even further. "I'll forward your test results to Arcadia," she said in a monotone. "And I'll recommend you for the transfer."

It was my turn to reel back. I stared, wide-eyed at Blackwell as she regained her senses.

"I'm sorry," she said, "Why were you here? Oh yes," she looked down. "I have your test results. Taylor, congratulations. You scored a 4.0. Between your outstanding test scores and my personal recommendation, you'll be attending Arcadia in no time." She frowned, and I could see that she was looking at a note appended to the corner of my Math exam.

"That's nothing," I said. "It's just a bit of scrap paper. Hand it over, please."

I held my breath. If that didn't work... but Blackwell was unclipping the note and handing it over. I gave it a cursory glance. It was a note from Mrs. Reese that there was evidence of plaigiarism on my English test. I crumpled it up and stuffed it in my back pocket.

"Was there anything else?" Blackwell asked. She only now seemed to be coming to her senses.

"No," I said. "May I be excused?"

"Of course."

I left and sprinted down the hall. I didn't stop until I was tucked away in one of the stalls in the girl's bathroom on the third floor. I just did that, I thought in a state of numbshock. That was a thing.

I was a master.

I stared down at my hands. The act of mastering Blackwell didn't bother me exactly. It felt strange, but it didn't seem as though I had done permanent damage. She hadn't fallen in love with me the way people did with Heartbreaker. Still, if anyone found about it - I had crossed a line as far as the PRT and the Protectorate were concerned. It was like that singer who was on trial - the bird girl. I'd have to be very careful with that power. Fortunately, I apparently had so many powers to choose from, no one would even have reason to think I could master people. But if Blacckwell realized... or if someone else realized. What if Mrs. Reese' talks to her about the plaigiarism? I forced myself to relax. There was nothing I could do about it now. Not unless I went and mastered Mrs. Reese. But that wouldn't solve the problem. Somewhere in the process Emma was involved. Emma was waiting and watching to see me fall,and if I didn't, she would intercede again. Emma was the one I needed to deal with.

She was determined to keep me here, to hold onto me, to drag me down into the muck with her and the rest of her losers. In that moment, I honestly considered killing her. I could do it. No one would know. And even if they suspected, I could master them, redirect their suspicion onto someone else - someone like Sophia. They would deserve it - the both of them.

I shook my head slowly. I wasn't going to kill Emma. As much of a bitch as she was, I wasn't going to sink to her level. I just needed to escape Winslow, and then these problems would be behind me. Even Emma would have to let me go eventually.

I left the bathroom and returned to the class. No one noticed me, which was just fine.

~~JH~~

Sophia watched Emma pace back and forth outside Winslow. "I just don't know what happened," Emma was saying. "Switching Taylor's test paper should have done the job."

"Let it go, Emma," Sophia said, bored. Truth be told, she was getting bored of smacking hebert around. Even these new little twists to hebert's personality weren't enough to catch her interest.

"Easy for you to say," said Emma irritably. "You're already strong."

"Smacking Hebert around is fun," replied Sophia slowly, "but I wouldn't call it a sign of strength. You're already on top."

"Yes," replied Emma slowly, "but I'm only on top because I grind others underneath me. That's how I show that I'm strong. Imagine if you didn't go out and-" she glanced around, "-and you know."

Sophia thought about that for a second. Emma had a point there. This was her battleground. "yeah, I guess. But can't you just find another loser to beat down on?"

Emma stopped pacing and exhaled. "I can..." But she didn't want to. "Taylor's easy," she said finally. "Anyone else I'll have to break them in. Anyway, we've stil got Taylor another week before the transfer."

"Gonna be an interesting week," replied Sophia. "Come on, let's go get something to eat. I'm starved. Then I got to get to work."

~~JH~~

I opened the door and slipped silently inside. Immediately the smell of sizzling bacon assaulted my senses. I took a seat in the kitchen. "Morning, dad."

"There you are," he said, turning the bacon over and dishing up the poached eggs. "That must have been some run."

I smiled just thinking about it. "Yeah, I must be a natural. It felt like I could go for hours."

In truth, my power let me wash away the fatigue and soreness, which meant I was able to run faster and harder. The most extraordinary thing though was that the process didn't leave me addicted to my power (who was I kidding? Of course I was addicted), but rather I actually gained the leaps and bounds from the extreme exertions. It was like packing an entire week's worth of physical exercise into a single session. It was almost as if my power was just making me a better person overall. It was like a friend that was always there, guiding me, listening to me, offering me advice, and just holding my hand when I needed it.

Dad sat down and began to inhale his eggs. He was one of those fast eater-types. I never understood it. Wasn't it better to savour one's food?

"Listen, dad," I said, "I was thinking. I'd like to take some self-defence classes. Maybe a martial arts class." For some reason swordfighting kept coming to mind, but that was ridiculous... or was it? The gleam of that crimson light sabre flashed across my mind's eye... but surely that was impossible... I couldn't be a tinker also... but why not?

Dad was chewing his food more slowly now as he thought about what I said. "Is this because of-?"

I opened my mouth to protest, but held back. In a sense it was, and it was easier to just go with it rather than try to provide some more convoluted reason. "Yeah, pretty much."

He nodded. "All right."

That was easier than expected, but since he was so worried about me, I suppose it made sense. I reached out and touched his emotions. His worry was nearly a physical thing. He wore it like a cloak. I realized as I studied him that he was a man that had lost hope in life. He was just putting one foot in front of the next; day in and day out.

"Dad," I began tentatively. My thoughts were half-formed, but I felt compelled to take action now. I wondered if maybe this was my power nudging me, but I couldn't be certain. "I'd like to get a job."

"A job?" he asked, frowning. "Between the Arcadia transfer and the martial art - when are you going to have time for a job?" He shook his head. "Wait for a semester. Maybe during the summer. You should let things get settled down now."

I wanted to protest, but his concern was legitimate for his perspective. He didn't know that I was a cape, and that studying for school and learning a martial art would be easy for me now. He didn't know that I wanted to begin taking on more responsibility in the household, to ease some of the burdens on his shoulders. I wanted him to know that he wasn't alone.

"I love you, dad," I said.

"I love you too," he replied, though he was clearly trying to figure out what brought that on.

~~JH~~

It was my last day at Winslow. When I awoke that morning, I felt a surge of foreboding that I had learned to recognize as a portent. I sincerely debated not going to school that day. I didn't think anyone would care particularly. One day of hookie would not jepoardize my transfer to Arcadia. Still, I felt as though I had something to prove. Pride goeth before the fall, I remember hearing my mother once say.

All day, I felt a tension building in the air. The students didn't pay any attention to me. There were not even looks my way. Emma seemed to be ignoring me. I suffered very few insults. Madison didn't even try to dump pencil shavings on me when she passed my desk in World Affairs. It was only in the later moments that I realized the lack of attention was itself the prelude.

The moment I stepped out of the school properly, I sensed them. They were four boys. One of them was in his senior year. He had shaved his head and had a Norse symbol tattooed on his bicep. The others were in my year. They all had that rough and tumble look of gang members. I felt their attention zero in on me. This was second nature as part of my power. They were casually drifting across the parking lot in my direction.

My mind zinged through all the possibilities. If I got into a fight with them, they could do serious harm to me. They could end up preventing me from finishing the term at Arcadia. There was no telling what that would do to my school term the next year. If I used my power, I could end up outing myself to people affiliated with Brockton Bay's most notorious gang.

Unfortunately, it seemed like my time was made up. When they were twenty paces away, I made a show of looking at them. Our gazes locked, and the moment they ran at me was the moment I sprinted to the sidewalk. It was a good ten miles from Winslow to my home. I was sure I could clear that in less than an hour with all the running I'd been doing. I was sure I could lose my pursuers.

It was only when it was almost too late that I realized the trap. There were a pair of gang members up ahead. Instinctively, I swerved into an alley only to realize an instant too late that they'd been herding me this way. I frantically looked about as I dashed through the trash littered debris. The buildings on either side were massive, ten storey brick. No one was jumping down from on high, and it wasn't a dead end. I felt a premonition of danger from overhead, and I surged forward, drawing on every ounce of the force I could muster to propel me the last few feet before there was a resounding crash behind me that sent dust and debris flying in all directions. Some of it peppered my back hard enough to draw blood.

I screeched to a halt and saw the remains of a car now blocking the alley behind me. Beyond the car were the boys that were chasing me. Ahead of me at the end of the alley were still more guys - these ones were older and had the scars and hard features I was more accustomed to expecting from gang members. From overhead, a figure descended. I looked up and recognized Rune from E88. I took a step back. This was way too much effort for just me. Somehow, they thought I was a cape. And I had no mask to protect myself. And I was completely surrounded.

Fuck.

I turned around and around, searching for a way to escape, but my power was giving me no guidance. Did that mean I was screwed?

No, I thought angrily. I wasn't screwed.

Rune was descending like a queen from on high as she rode what I thought was a cement slab. I couldn't outrun her. She could fly and call for back up whenever she wanted, and she had a lot of capes she could call on if I put up a fight.

I shook myself. What was I thinking? I had to at least try to flee. That was my only option. A hazy sort of plan formed in my head. It was going to out me, but it was better than being caught and conscripted into a Nazi gang. I sprinted toward the end of the alley. the space was narrow and there were several guys in front of me. I called on every ounce of the force I could muster to barrel through them. One swung a haymaker. I didn't even slow as I dodged it. Another tried to grab me, but I managed to stop on a dime. He was already in mid-lunge right in front of me. I grabbed him and used all my strength to lift and throw him. His feet left the ground, and I just managed to register his surprise as he went careening into a guy that was about to grab me from behind. An instant later, I was off, weaving between the three remaining guys.

A flash of danger had me twisting so hard I almost headbutted the brick wall. I felt the compression of air as a fast-moving projectile whizzed by. One of the gang members screamed, and I realized Rune had propelled a rock at me. That would have smashed my ribcage if it'd hit, I thought. I drew harder on the force as my danger sense ratcheted up, and my thoughts sped up even further. The movement of the people around me slowed. Rune was barreling toward me, a constellation of rocks. One was already racing toward me. I threw myself out of the way again, moving even faster than before - and just in the nick of time. The fist-sized rock shattered as it hit the brick wall behind me. I was peppered with bits of stone as I turned and bolted the rest of the way down the alley.

Rune was behind me. I had a fast second to realize the car had vanished from the alley. I flung myself sideways down the street just as it crashed on the cement once more.

I can't outrun her, I thought, and she only needs one lucky hit.

The two closest gang members were just ten feet away. I shouted at them, using all my skill at mastering, "Protect me! Kill her!" I pointed at Rune for emphasis.

Three more rocks came rocketing toward me. This time they were spaced out to prevent me from dodging to the left or right. My power screamed at me to jump. Bewildered and having no time to think, I did as commanded, thrusting my power downward with all my strength. I sailed ten feet into the air. The three rocks shot through where I was before stopping in mid-air and spiraling downward. When I hit the ground from my jump - had that really been ten feet? - I was sprinting again. I heard the sound of firecrackers - kinetic rounds - and Rune's scream of pain and surprise.

I kept running, and did not turn back.

~~JH~~

Armsmaster stilled his motorbike and dismounted at the mouth of the alley. His HUD was feeding him huge amounts of data. Small impact craters from projectiles and two large ones - no doubt caused by the wrecked sedan. A part of his screen hived off to one corner where a licence plate search pulled up the identity of the vehicle owner. A notice was automatically transmitted to alert his assistant to bring the owner in and interrogate him.

There were twelve members - Empire 88.. A teenage girl in costume on the ground - expanding pool of blood - Rune. Two bullet wounds. Already his HUD was transmitting alerts to the PRT who were no doubt jumping into action. He began conscripting footage from nearby surveillance cameras. Fortunate perhaps that as this was the midway between the poorer areas and the richer areas, it meant that the shop owners had the money to buy good quality surveillance equipment and the need to use it due to the higher instances of criminal activity.

A picture began to form of the events which took place.

"This is Armsmaster," he began as he walked through the crime scene. He debated checking on Rune's vitals, but Piggot would no doubt hassle him for giving preferential treatment to a cape, so he didn't bother. A note like that could have the potential for reflecting poorly on him at a later date. And anyway, he could see the emergency vehicles en route. They would be here in four minutes, and he had no reason to think anyone who was still alive was in immediate danger. "I am investigating reports of a cape fight which first made an appearance on the Parahuman Online message boards at 3:45pm today. A caucasian female - likely a teenager - the surveillance footage of the chase ended about three miles away. He could conscript more, but it would require too much processing power and given that the city was not well-surveiled - he calculated it was not an efficient use of time. Still, one of his programs activated, and calculated likely routes given the information at hand.

"She may have been coming from Winslow High," he continued. "She was pincered and routed by at least-" he checked the surveillance again, "-fifteen males approximate ages ranging from 15 to 24 years. Parahuman support was provided by Rune. Unknown if other parahuman involvement, but unlikely. This appears to be a standard snatch and grab operation of a new cape."

It obviously didn't go as planned, he thought as the PRT agents descended on the scene. Given the number of bodies, the PRT was also mixed in with local law enforcement and paramedics from Brockton General. The PRT were bundling Rune into one of the ambulances. Armsmaster made a note to assign two parahuman guards to her containment. He was pleased to see that the PRT were using the tinker gloves he had designed to restrict Rune's abilities. He made a note of it. It was important to preserve these things. After a second's thought, he added a note that the gloves were experimental, and thus should not be wholly relied on. There, he thought with satisfaction, that would protect him in case she got out anyway.

He returned to making his report. "There are several gunshot wounds. It appears that a firefight broke out between the gang members. Rune was shot twice." He paused at that realization, and checked the surveillance footage more carefully. The angles weren't good. The surveillance cameras didn't catch what went on in the alley, but by the time the new cape reached the sidewalk things became a little clearer. "Suspected mover or brute ability," he said as he watched her leap ten feet seven inches into the air. He studied the footage. She turned and shouted something and pointed at Rune. Armsmaster stilled as he saw the nearest gang members - the footage wasn't very clear but they looked... confused, and then turned around and began firing on their own people. Armsmaster paled a little at the realization. "Like a master."

The new cape may very well have been the first Brockton Bay native to become a master - excluding Glory Girl - though her master rating was so low no one thought much about it. This one looked to be higher. It was hard to tell. Mid-level at least - Master 4 probably. 5 if the range and breadth were higher.

The fact she could master enemies in the middle of combat - at least two simultaneously - and force them to turn on their own friends in the heat of combat spoke volumes though. He made sure to activate his phonic inhibitors just in case her power was sound-based. Now all his communications would be recorded and analyzed before being translated to him using either a synthesized voice or appearing as transcribed text using speech-to-text.

Armsmaster continued his report. But now he was looking more closely - descending to the next level of analysis. The cape did not appear to have any bruises on her, but she also didn't appear to have inflicted any bruises on anyone either. If she were a brute, she would have had to have had incredible self control not to punch her way through the gangs. From their position, they'd obviously had her trapped in the alley. No, he decided, she had to have been a mover of some kind. Perhaps a phasing ability like Shadowstalker. If she triggered at Winslow, it was possible that she may have inherited some of the ward's abilities by whatever exotic form of osmosis powers manifested. That could explain the ten foot vertical. Shadowstalker could do something similar. He studied the footage of the girl jumping once more. There did not appear to be any change in her corporeality. He pursed his lips. He was irritated he could not glean more about the new cape.

There'll be more chances, he thought as he surveyed the bloodstains that remained now that the paramedics and PRT had rounded up the bodies. There always were.

~~JH~~

Miss Militia was studying the footage. She leaned forward. "How did she know when to jump?"

Piggot could see Armsmaster's scowl despite the mask. No doubt he was kicking himself for not spotting it.

Piggot nodded as she replayed the footage. "She could be a precog. Or at least, she has a thinker ability that lets her have awareness of her surroundings."

"Could be related to her master power," said Miss Militia.

"Could," replied Piggot neutrally. Like Armsmaster she was very unhappy at having a mystery new cape with a master ability show up in her town. The only good side to the whole mess was that she at least didn't appear to be planning to join the empire anytime soon. And since she was white, she probably wouldn't be joining the ABB.

There came a knock at the door, and the Deputy Director stepped in. He held out a thin folder. "We've finished interrogating the suspects."

Piggot reached over and took it and immediately began perusing the file.

"The surviving members don't have a name for the new cape. They only knew she was from Winslow." Piggot paused and re-read the interrogation notes. She could feel a headache coming on. "The new cape shouted 'protect me' and 'kill her' before her final flight. This appears to be the trigger that caused three empire members to turn on their fellows. The turnabout was so sudden that they managed to severely injure Rune." Piggot studied the report.

"I see," she murmured. The gang members took her words literally. "They focused all their attention on Rune, which allowed the other gang members to assess and open fire. They killed one of the slaves instantly. Another was injured. They both turned and opened fire on their fellow gang members. Both of them aimed for one named Krueger - he was the only one that apparently knew the new cape's identity."

Armsmaster nodded. "It suggests that the slaves retain some measure of independent thought."

Piggot nodded. "They're half-puppets. They disregarded their own safety until late in the game. Only after the last was injured did he make any move to try to take cover."

"A power like that is going to be very dangerous," said Miss Militia pensively. "It'll be hard to tell who's been mastered."

"I'm marking this as priority one," said Piggot grimly. "We need to find this new cape immediately. Until we do, I am enacting full master-stranger protocols."

"That will be inefficient," said Armsmaster, but his tone suggested approval. Piggot imagined he was impressed by the new cape's ability to make the lives of her enemies inconvenient.

"Go talk to Shadowstalker," said Piggot. "If this new cape goes to Winslow, she should have some idea who it is."

"The empire will no doubt be searching for her as well."

"All the more reason we get there first," replied Piggot.

~~JH~~

Sophia grabbed Emma by the shoulder and shook her. She wanted to slam her head into the nearby locker until it cracked like a melon.

"Ow!" Emma cried out. "Stop that, you're hurting me! Sophia!"

"What. Did. You. Do." Sophia was livid, and Emma was starting to realize that.

"I just told Julie that I thought Taylor might've been a cape."

"You didn't jus ttell Julie-fucking-motormouth," Sophia ground out. "You knew what that blabbermouth bitch was gonna do."

"Yeah, so?"

"So," Sophia went on, amazed at how dense Emma was. The girl did not understand cape business at all. "What do you think the gang's going to do if they think Hebert's a cape?"

"They think she's a jew," said Emma sullenly. "They'll probably just try to rough her up. And then either Taylor'd get smacked down if she isn't a cape, or she'd get into trouble for using cape powers on norms."

"No," said Sophia. She was nearly vibrating with fury. "That is not what they're going to do. They're going to go and tell their bosses that they found a possible cape. That's what they're going to do."

"So?" Emma still was not getting it.

"And thenn they're going to go and find Taylor and talk to her."

Emma looked confused. "Why would they talk to her?"

Sophia closed her eyes. She let Emma go and prayed for strength to finish this conversation without violence.

"Capes are a big deal," said Sophia. "Everyone wants more capes. If they think there's even a slim chance that they could recruit her, they'll take it. The higher-ups in a cape organization like the E88 are going to double-check every fact before they make a move. How hard do you think it'll be for them to figure out that Taylor Hebert is not actually jewish?"

Emma digested this slowly. Finally, she said, "So you think they might recruit her?"

"There's no maybe about it," said Sophia. "Unless Hebert's a powerhouse, they're going to certainly do it. And nothing I've seen of Hebert suggests she's going to blow offthe empire. I can think of half a dozen empire capes that could stop her in her tracks."

"She wouldn't join the empire," said Emma, still resisting the idea. "She's not a Nazi."

"And if they put a gun to her old man's head?"

"I thought you said they wouldn't do that."

"They don't actively look for identities," said Sophia. "But a new cape... her identity falling into their lap... vulnerable without a team. Hell yeah they're going to take advantage of that."

Emma took a deep breath. "I still don't see the problem. If we know she's a cape, we could arrest her." This idea seemed to excite Emma to new heights. "Think about it. Once she shows herself, you'll be able to arrest her. You know, because you know where she lives. You could just be in the area-"

Sophia rubbed her temples. That idea was bat-shit fucking... actually... as she thought about it, it wasn't half bad. She could keep an eye on Hebert at home. Spy on her... stalk her... and when she legitimately saw suspicious activity, she could bust in and make the arrest. Sophia smiled. "That's fucking brill."

Emma beamed. "See?"

"I take it back," replied Sophia. "You just managed to make Hebert interesting prey once more."

Just then, Sophia's phone started to ring. "Shit," Sophia said. "Gotta take that. It's work."

Sophia answered the call. "Yeah?"

"We need you back here," said Kid Win without preamble. "The higher-ups lost a key to the warehouse. They need you to retrieve something." Translation: Piggy wanted to pump her for information.

"Sure," said Sophia easily. "I'll be there in an hour."

"As quick as you can."

Sophia hung up. The thought drifted through her mind that maybe this was Hebert-related. "Look I gotta go."

"We cool?" asked Emma.

"We're cool," said Sophia. "But don't get into cape business without talkking to me first."

"I won't."

"All right, I'll see you tomorrow on the Boardwalk."

~~JH~~

Sophia had learned over the months she had been in the wards to read the moodd of the PRT. There was no question the PRT always had a feel of coiled power. The troops were a well-oiled machine, and maintained an air of professionalism matched only by the military. These were people who cared about what they did and who regularly risked their lives against violent super-powered sociopaths. Still, the PRT usually had a relaxed atmosphere. The building was heavily protected, and they were surrounded by well-armed soldiers that had your back. This was the seat of military power, and they all knew it. Today though, there was a feeling of heightened activity and tension in the air. But there wasn't panic or terror. It was more fear - but a wary fear - like that of two predators who didn't quite know the other's capabilities as they sized each other up.

"This way, please," said her handler, Karen something or other. Sophia was led to a conference room. This one of the fancy ones on the upper floor, which meant whatever she'd been called in for, it was for something both private and serious.

Both Piggy and Armsmaster came in moments later. They weren't even playing the waiting game, Sophia thought. So there really was something time-sensitive.

"At approximately 3:30pm today," Piggot began, "an altercation took place between the empire and a new cape in an alley just off Torbram and Leslie Road." She opened her folio. Sophia knew this was an affectation of Piggot's. The old bat no doubt already had the file memorized, so looking down at the pages was totally superfluous. "The empire brought 15 non-parahuman combatants and 1 parahuman combatant - Rune. The gang members cornered the new cape in an alley. We expect Rune was just arriving on site when the new cape chose to engage in violence to break free."

"What's this got to do with me?" Sophia demanded. She tamped down on her agitation. So this was about Hebert, and something fucked up must have happened. This put Sophia on edge. If anyone thought she was involved...

"Do not interrupt me, please," replied Piggot.

Sophia opened her mouth but then stopped. There were rumours Armsy was putting together a lie detector. Best not to say anything that could set it off.

"We think the new cape may attend Winslow." Piggot and Armsmaster were both studying her intently. "Do you have an idea who it might be?"

"Are you asking me to unmask a cape?" Sophia's mind was racing as she tried to sort through the implications. She wasn't expecting this, and she did not know which answer to give.

"Right now, if you could simply verify whether you know of the cape, that would suffice." That was Armsmaster. He was leaning forward. There was a tiny little dot on a piece of tinker tek that jutted out of his shoulder. It was pointed right at her. The fucking lie detector.

"I have a suspect," said Sophia. "There's a girl who's been acting funny."

Piggot nodded. "Go on."

Sophia eyed Armsmaster warily. He hadn't given any indication as to whether he believed her or didn't believe her. "What's more to go on with?" Sophia asked.

"What indications did she give you to suggest she was a parahuman?"

Sophia shrugged. "She became great at phys ed overnight. She made it look easy. There was one moment where she dodged a ball that was thrown at her from behind."

"How did she dodge it?" Armsmaster asked. He leaned forward.

"She jumped over it," said Sophia casually, but she didn't miss the laser-like focus that was now on her. "That was the thing that stood out for me. I spend a lot of time practising to take down criminals. The girl looked like she could do it in her sleep."

"Why didn't you report it?" asked Armsmaster.

"Report what?" asked Sophia irritably. "A classmate of mine is good at Dodgeball? I wouldn't have even thought she was seriously a parahuman except that you're asking me all these dumbass questions."

Piggot was now the one to lean forward. "Do you know when she triggered?"

Sophia shrugged. "A few weeks ago, maybe?"

"What was her trigger event?" asked Armsmaster. "I can't find anything in the news of a trigger-worthy event from a few weeks ago."

Sophia glared. "That's not even the way triggers work. She was probably at home moping about how she's got no friends."

"Do you know her?" asked Piggot. "Can you speak to her and see if she is willing to come here?"

"I don't know her," replied Sophia. "Not well anyway. And I'm not approaching a cape and threatening them if I don't even know what their powers are. For all I know, she's a master."

There were no obvious tells - both of them were too good at this game to give anything away, but Sophia knew them well, and the momentary silence told her all she needed to know.

"No fucking way," said Sophia. "She's seriously a master?"

Even as she noted their significantly exchanged glances, Sophia's mind was racing. That didn't fit with anything she knew of Hebert's abilities. A brute or mover - probably the former with the way she healed up. Where did a master power fit in with that?

The projection screen descended, and the lights dimmed. "You will not breathe a word of this to anyone." Piggot replayed clips from the video footage of the attack.

Sophia watched intently. When they came to the point where Hebert shouted something, Piggot paused to say, "She instructed the gang members to protect her and kill Rune."

"Christ," Sophia muttered. "That's fucked up." She watched as the fight turned into gun violence between the gang members. She watched the guy that Emma had talked to take three bullets. One of them struck him in the face. The only regret she had from watching the violence was that she wasn't the one inflicting it.

"Is that the person you believe to be a cape?"

Reluctantly, Sophia nodded.

"You know, we now have enough information to identify her. All it would take would be to show this footage to your physical education instructor."

Sophia thought about that. They were basically telling her that she wasn't going to get any points for revealing, and not revealing would only get her in shit. "Her name is Taylor Hebert."

~~JH~~

Kaiser stared down at the teenager impassively.

Hookwolf extruded one barbed claw. "You're gonna tell us every little goddamned thing you saw."

The kid nodded, his gaze fixed on the tip of that claw as it neared his eyeball. "Yuh-yuh-yes, of cuh-cuh-course. I don't know who the cape is. I only know there was a girl going around telling everyone there was a cape. Jimmy got wind of it and wanted details. He arranged everything. They made it quick 'cause the cape was s'posed to be transferring to Arcadia."

Kaiser's mind raced at that last statement. Were they dealing with a new ward. The Arcadia transfer suggested so, but he hadn't heard anything about a new ward.

"The cunt that was blabbing," Hookwolf growled. "What's her name?"

"Julia," said the boy. "Julia McDowell."

Kaiser turned to one of his subordinates. "Go find her address please."

The subordinate nodded and left.

"I don't know what her powers are." The boy was nearly weeping with the admission. "They were saying she did something in PE. She dodged a ball or something. And someone said she wrote something weird in Mr. Henderson's class. You know, cape weird."

"No, I don't know," growled Hookwolf. "Explain."

"I don't know nothing more than that."

Wrote something weird, thought Kaiser. He had scant information from the fight this morning. Three of his subordinates had fled and returned, bringing with them the only source of valuable information. The girl was a teenager at Winslow. She moved like lightning, threw a man, dodged as though she knew the hits were coming. All of that spoke of a mover or brute. But the weird writing... a tinker? It was possible that she was reproducing the effects with tinker gadgetry. He did like the idea of acquiring a tinker. That would be a real coup for his empire - the one thing he was lacking."

"I have it," said his subordinate, who returned. "532 Duckberry Lane."

Kaiser turned to Victor. "If you would be so kind as to pay a visit to Miss McDowell's abode. Do try and be discreet."

Victor nodded and left.

Kaiser gazed at the sniveling coward before him. Sadly, the empire was full of these loathsome wretches. Purifying humankind seemed like more and more of a chore each passing year.

"Do I need to let this one go too?" asked Hookwolf.

"No," replied Kaiser. "This one is all yours."

Kaiser left. The boy's screams faded into the background. His blood poured in rivulets along the already stained concrete and into the drain on the floor.

~~JH~~

Julie was glued to the PHO boards, where she watched the shaky, low quality footage of the afternoon's fight. "That can't be," she breathed. "She really is a cape." Vaguely, she was alarmed. Julie liked picking on Hebert and the other losers as much as the next person - better them than her - but she felt that somehow being near a cape meant danger. Especially now that the cape in question had pissed off the empire.

The doorbell rang, and her mother shouted for her to get it. She was just pondering the issue when she reached the door and opened it. A strange man was standing there.

"Ms. Julia McDowell?" he asked.

He was handsome, even if a little older, and his voice had a rich, almost hypnotic cadence to it.

"Uh, yeah," she said. "that's me."

"My name is Victor."

It took a second for her mind to grasp his identity.

"Perhaps it would be best if we took a walk," he went on casually. "We would not want your parents or little brother to be overly troubled."

She swallowed. "Uh, yeah, sure." She went and put on her shoes and jacket. "I'm stepping out for a bit mom," she called.

"Dear, who is it?"

"Just a friend. You remember Emma? She's got a question about school." Please don't come out of the kitchen. Please don't come out of the kitchen. She quickly stepped outside and closed the door.

"What is it?" asked Julie, but Victor was already walking down the driveway to a stately looking Towncar.

Julie gulped but firmed up her resolve and followed. Once they were inside and on the move, he began. "Tell me everything you know about the new cape at Winslow."

~~JH~~

Victor watched with a hooded gaze as two PRT officers rang the doorbell to the Hebert household. He tapped the earpiece and said quietly, "The secondary target is home. Two officers entering the premises. No capes sighted."

"Two squishies ain't gonna stop me," said Hookwolf. "I say we take them."

"Negative," replied Victor. "Primary target not yet spotted."

"I don't give a fuck. She'll come once she finds out we got her daddy."

Victor sighed. "We're not abducting the head of the DWA. Kaiser would be displeased." Hookwolf was great at certain things, but politics was not one of them. Still, Rune was supposed to be the soft touch and that obviously failed. So here they were.

"I ain't waiting around all night."

"You don't have to," replied Victor. "I expect we can draw her out. Just let me know when Cricket hears her." Victor cut the transmission and looked over at Othala. "Managing Hookwolf can be sucha chore sometimes."

Othala laid her delicate fingers over top his. He thought he could feel the banked power contained within. In many ways, Othala was the jewel of Kaiser's budding cape army. In a world where capes and norms alike were frequently torn apart by violence, the power to heal was considered the holy grail of powers. It was the only thing that could truly provide assurance that their people and their people's loved ones could go on living despite whatever violence befell them.

"I hope she comes quietly," Othala said. "She's just a teenage girl."

"That ship has sailed, I am afraid," replied Victor. "She did not even wait to listen to Rune before engaging in violence. Her father is also well-known for his anti-gang sentiment. I can only assume that he has filled his daughter's head with that nonsense."

"As if they should lump us in with the monkeys and trash," Othala murmured. "Still, I do hope."

"Laudible," he murmured.

Victor's earpiece crackled to life. ""We got her. There's a little birdie perched on a roof two houses down. She's crouching behind a chimney. I'm going in."

"No," Victor said urgently. Something was troubling him about the situation. They still didn't fully undrstand the new cape's powers. "I told you we're not going to abudct-"

"I heard you," said Hookwolf. "And I ain't going to abduct him. I only have to make the little cunt think I'm going to abduct him. She'll come." Hookwolf killed the transmission.

"Shit," Victor swore. "Hookwolf's going in."

Othala nodded. "That's what Kaiser wants."

"I'm supposed to moderate," said Victor, opening the door as he saw Hookwolf and his two capes cross the street. Othala joined him as they approached. "We'll let him go first," said Victor. "Once he has injured the girl, we'll go in and wrap her up and take her to Kaiser."

from a distance, they watched as Hookwolf shredded the front door like it was tissue paper.

"If he injures the officers," Victor said quietly, "heal them. Kaiser will not want-"

A shadow landed on the roof of the house. It came and went so quickly Victor wasn't sure he even truly saw it.

"So it begins," Othala said.

~~JH~~

I couldn't believe this was happening. In the span of six hours, my life was falling apart. I'd participated in a cape fight - killed people - injured Rune - and now the empire was busting down my door. I leapt through the back door. It seemed to open without me even touching it.

There was shouting - that was my dad. the PRT were also shouting, and then there was a burst of gunfire. I was getting heartily sick of that sound.

I sprinted into the living room to a scene of carnage. The sofa had been torn in two. Bits of fluff was floating through the air in all directions with Hookwolf standing in the middle. The PRT officers had their guns trained on him, and had backed up. One was in the doorway to the kitchen, my dad behind him. The other was on the stairs.

That was Hookwolf, my mind gibbered in shock and fear. I couldn't even touch him let alone stop him. I aimed for one of the other capes - Stormtiger.

Hookwolf looked like he was about to say something, but I was already in motion, moving so fast I was across the room in an eyeblink. Stormtiger was just raising a hand when I tackled him. The force of the collision sent him partway through the drywall.

Cricket must have been nearly as fast as me, because she was the first to reach me. I danced backward, out of the way of those two wicked-looking swords. I never craved my light sabre more than I did in that moment.

Despite my speed and danger sense, Cricket was fast, and we were in an enclosed space. One of the kamas bit deeply into my arm.

A spray of bullets had Cricket juking to one side. It barely slowed her, but it was all I needed.

I gathered the force to me and pressed it down on Cricket's mind. To my shock, she resisted far more than anyone had ever done before. I poured all my will into it. I barely registered the wounds from Stormtiger's air claws - he was just now picking himself out of the wall.

Finally, Cricket's mind seemed to give way under my onslaught. I had no idea what I had done to her - I felt like maybe I had crushed her mind. There was shouting, and another spray of bullets in Stormtiger's direction. I was stumbling back, only now looking at the freely bleeding gashes in my other arm.

But pandemonium was erupting around me as Cricket turned around and skewered Stormtiger through the stomach.

Hookwolf's eyes bulged as he realized I was a master. The PRT must have realized I had raised the stakes, because they opened fire on Hookwolf.

But the bullets thudded harmlessly against his metal shell, as he was suddenly covered head to foot in a series of whirling blades. He charged, and I was just scrambling to my feet - my power was numbing the pain somehow - when there was another cry. In slow motion, I watched my dad tackle me. There was a moment where I stumbled and hit the ground. I stared up at him for that brief moment, my eyes wide, my mouth open in a half-formed scream as Hookwolf barreled into him.

The next thing I knew, blood was spattering my face. I watched in a state of numb horror as my dad was torn apart.

Hookwolf was roaring, but I barely heard him. I did not hear the frantic radio of the PRT officers. I did not see Hookwolf turn to me and charge again. I did not see Cricket interpose herself between me and Hookwolf, saving my life. I stared at my dad's corpse. No - not a corpse. There wasn't enough of him left. There were giblets of flesh on the wall - an arm here - a leg there. My gaze fell on his head. I crawled over to it. Someone was tugging on my arm. It was one of the PRT officers. I stared blankly at them. They were saying something.

"Not without my dad," I tried to say. I sank down into a pool of his cooling blood and touched his hair... his cheek. "Daddy?"

The yanking grew more insistent. Anger filled me. How dare they try to take me away from my home. I gathered the force to me. It came easier than it ever had before, and I sent it out in a wave. I did not register the officer's surprise, or the arc of his body as it sailed across the room to hit the fireplace. I turned back to my dad.

"You little cunt!" roared Hookwolf. He had just batted Cricket to one side and turned to face me. "I'm gonna do worse to you than I did to your precious daddy."

"Hookwolf, stop!" Someone else had arrived. I stared up at the stranger. He was an empire cape, but I did not remember him. Othala was also there. She was healing Stormtiger. She could heal. My gaze sharpened.

"She's a fucking master!" shouted Hookwolf.

I ignored the two men shouting. They were irrelevant. I picked up my dad's head and held it out to her. Othala was just turning around. I said, "Heal him."

Othala stared at the severed head in my hands, and then at me. There was a funny look in her eyes - was that pity? that was ridiculous. She didn't need to pity me. She needed to heal my dad. Then everything would be fine.

"Heal him," I commanded. I shook my dad's head at her.

The two men stopped arguing and stared at this strange tableau, as if paralyzed by my demand.

"Sweetheart," Othala said tentatively, "I can't heal him."

"Of course you can heal him," I insisted. She was a healer. That's what healers did. "Of course you can. Do it. Do it now." I hesitated. I knew they wanted me to join them. If I had joined them this morning none of this would be happening. This was my fault. Something inside me felt like it was breaking. It felt like a light sabre was being slowly dragged through my chest. "I'll-" A lump was forming in my throat. "I'll join you. I'll do anything. Please, just heal him." Something was wrong with my vision. It was getting blurry. Was I crying?

Othala was shaking her head. "I'm sorry," she said in a quiet voice. "He's dead. There's nothing I can do."

I stared down at my hands. Blood was all over them. My dad's eyes had sunken back into the head. The skin was yellow. My fingers were digging grooves into the sagging flesh where I was gripping it too hard.

"No," I said, but the truth was settling around me like a cold blanket.

The numbness was giving way to something else. It fellt like I had been in a cocoon, and was only now crawling out. I had been fighting it all these weeks - my power. All those nightmares, all those feelings of anger - I had been denying them - denying myself. Those were me. I never felt it as I did now. I embraced it. I let it fill me, and it kept filling me, and I realized in that moment that my power... it wasn't a stream. It wasn't a river. It was an ocean, and it was all there for me to bend to my will.

I didn't even register standing. I barely registered the capes taking a step back.

"Taylor-" Othala began.

"What the fuck's wrong with her eyes?" That was Hookwolf. I turned to face him, still holding my dad's head.

"You killed him," I said. The new reality was still dawning on me. In a lower, deadlier voice, I repeated, "You killed my dad."

"Now hold on, Taylor-" That was Othala trying again.

I ignored her.

"What're you gonna do, little girl?" Hookwolf demanded. "You fucked with us and killed our people. So of course we're gonna come fuck with yours. That's the way the world works. You can't handle it, too bad."

I nodded. "Totally. That's totally the way the world works. What goes around comes around, right, Hookwolf?"

"Yeah," he said.

The new guy - I realized who he was - Victor was leaning in close to Othala and whispering, but I heard it clear as day. "We might be witnessing a second trigger. Everyone should be very careful."

"Good," said Hookwolf. "So you're gonna come quietly then, and we're gonna discuss you joining the empire, and putting this shit behind us."

"Yeah," I said. "That's totally what I'm gonna do."

I raised a hand. The sudden and violent snapping of Cricket's neck was like a gunshot in the silence of the enclosed space. One minute she was there, and the next she was a doll collapsing to the ground after her strings had been cut.

Hookwolf roared and charged, and all hell broke loose.

~~JH~~

The moment Hookwolf's charge was re-directed, his whole body going flying like a rocket through the kitchen door and out of sight, Victor knew they were in trouble. Hookwolf could handle abuse like that, but the rest of them couldn't. One hit, and Othala would be dead. "Get behind me," he said to Othala. They had practised this formation before. She would make him invincible and use him as a shield.

They backed out. Victor raised his pistol, but did not quite point it at the girl.

Stormtiger had not been idle. He had been gathering air to form claws. Victor new from experience that a single swipe of the fully formed claws could shred a man to bits, and it appeared Stormtiger was planning on giving the girl the full swipe.

Victor raised his pistol and fired just as Stormtiger swiped. Simultaneously, Hookwolf returned, tearing through the wall.

Miraculously the girl dodged all three strikes. She raised her father's head to take the bullet. The clawswipe dissipated somehow, and she moved so fast that he lost track of her. But Hookwolf was no slouch and had no doubt expected a dodge. He stopped his charge, using his claws to dig into the ground and turned to run the girl down. Victor fired another shot at her, but she simply raised a hand and deflected the bullet right into Hookwolf's eye. The coordination was extraordinary - deflecting a bullet so that it ricocheted into someone's eye was definitely in the high thinker-mover range.

Hookwolf, apparently, didn't appreciate the girl's ability. He screamed and shook his head until the deformed bullet came flying out of his bloody eyeball. He then rampaged toward her once more. Stormtiger was doing something. Yes, Victor had seen this attack before. He was trying to suffocate her into unconsciousness.

At the last moment, Cricket's body went flying and struck Hookwolf. The force of the blow negated his charge yet again, and drove him back a step. An instant later, Cricket's body was shredded to bits. In that brief moment of respite, the girl had struck Stormtiger. It must have been a variation on the power that snapped cricket's neck. Only this time, Stormtiger was driven backward through the side of the house.

"Let's go," said Victor. They needed to heal Stormtiger. That blow might have been fatal.

The brisk winter air highlighted the sweat and tension that rolled off himself and Othala as they hurried to the side of the house.

There was another roar from Hookwolf, and then a feeling like that of a storm building filled the air.

"Hurry," said Victor. He had a bad feeling about the situation. Logically, it looked as though the girl was on the defensive, but still she had managed to kill Cricket and injure Stormtiger all while deflecting Hookwolf. He would almost have thought she were toying with them.

"He's alive," said Othala, relieved. "Just another few minutes, and he'll be right as rain."

"Forget it," said Victor. "I'll carry him. He can heal on the way."

It was good they moved, because a second later, Hookwolf came crashing through the side of the house. "Retreat!" Victor shouted to Hookwolf, but Hookwolf's bloodlust was up.

In the distance, Victor could make out a flying figure on approach. Dauntless probably.

Victor threw Stormtiger unceremoniously into the backseat. He was just coming to, but was still too groggy to re-enter the fight.

"How bad were his injuries?" asked Victor as he got into the driver's seat.

"Over a hundred breaks to various bones. There was bleeding in the brain." She leaned over and touched him again to grant him more healing. "He might need another couple of minutes."

Victor was just hitting the gas pedal when he stopped and stared at the strange events playing out on the front lawn. The girl was there on the front steps, part of the front of the house caved in so that she was framed by the demolished contents of her living room. Hookwolf was on the lawn. Smoke was rising from his body. The girl, Taylor - she held her hands out, and suddenly, a blinding stream of octinic lightning leapt from her fingertips to Hookwolf's body. He roared, but this time from pain. The lightning streamed for nearly twenty seconds. Hookwolf had stopped screaming, and his metal exoskeleton was melting off him in glowing puddles. His body continued to spasm, but Victor was certain he was already dead.

"Jesus," said Othala. She stared wide-eyed at the scene.

He reversed and backed up so that they would not pass by the house. In his rearview mirror, he saw the girl raise a hand in their direction. He tried to juke to one side, but it was no use. The entire car was suddenly flipping end over end. The last thing he heard was Othala screaming and reaching for him before his world went dark.

~~JH~~

Dauntless touched down in front of the demolished remains of the Hebert household. Even though it looked like all the fighting was over, he still wished Assault and Battery would hurry up. It looked like a war zone out here. His gaze first fell on the steaming pile of flesh that lay on the lawn. The smell of cooked flesh was still heavy in the air despite the cold breeze. Hookwolf, he decided.

In the distance, Victor was trying to drag Othala out through the window of an upturned car. Dauntless walked over and called out. "Halt."

Victor did not so much as twitch, instead focusing on dragging Othala out.

"Step away from the vehicle, Victor," said Dauntless, "or I'll have to use force."

Victor drew out his pistol, but did not point it at anyone. After a minute, he closed his eyes and let the weapon drop from his fingers. He nodded and raised his arms.

Dauntless walked over and cuffed him.

"Othala requires immediate medical attention," he said.

"The paramedics are on their way," said Dauntless. "We'll get her to the hospital as soon as possible." Sure enough, they could now hear the sirens of the first responders. "In the meantime, why don't you tell me what happened?"

Victor sighed, but began his story.

~~JH~~

The ringing of the alarm dragged Piggot from sleep. No, that wasn't the alarm. Her mind sharpened, and she came to alertness. That was her phone.

It was still dark out. 11:00pm according to her clock. She had just gone to bed an hour ago.

The phone kept ringing.

"Yeah?" she said, putting the receiver to her ear. She was already sitting up.

"We have a situation at the Hebert residence."

The fog of sleep was gone now. Her mind was putting pieces together and prioritizing questions that needed answering.

"Is Zephyr in custody?" Zephyr was the name given to Hebert by the Protectorate.

"No ma'am."

"Anyone injured?"

"Zephyr's father is dead. Likely the result of Hookwolf. The girl is missing. Hookwolf dead. Cricket dead."

As Piggot listened, she grew progressively more alarmed. What the hell happened out there?

"Call everyone to base," she said. This needed to be contained ASAP. They needed to find this girl before her body count went up any further. "Not all the wards," she went on, thinking, "just Vista, Aegis, and Gallant - have them be on call. I want a telleconference with them in ten minutes."

"Ma'am, if Zephyr's that dangerous-"

"Then we need someone who's capable of talking her down. If not the wards, then who? Armsmaster? Do as your told, officer."

"Yes, ma'am."

She hung up and stared into the shadows that crowded around her. Two capes dead, and four injured and apprehended. The empire wasn't going to take this lying down. She needed to have the capes processed and shipped off to prison immediately. Stormtiger could probably go to the cage. Victor and Othala would likely go to a maximum security cell, unless they were willing to deal, which was not out of the question. This was going to be a deal-breaker for Brockton Bay if they pulled it off, but it all required that they act quickly to remove the capes before Kaiser could mobilize and free them.

Kaiser had a lot of resources at his disposal to throw at a problem. A bribe here and some blackmail there, and a few favours given, and a few out-of-town mercenaries - no - they needed to be moved tonight. Piggot got dressed and called for her driver to come collect her. There was work to do.

~~JH~~

Everyone was captured. Kaiser gripped his tumbler so hard it shattered in his hand. He needed Purity more than ever. With her, he would get Night and Fog and Crusader - and he needed all of them if he were to recover his lost capes tonight... and he needed to get his capes back tonight - before the news stories ran tomorrow. Otherwise, the loss of face from such a defeat would dog him for months if not years. All his plans would have to be set back, and his backers overseas might hear about it. This was exactly the sort of thing that got All-Father killed.

He brushed the bits of glass from his hands and picked up the phone. He thought about sending Krieg - Purity had a good relationship with him - but no - this required his personal attention.

"Hello, Kayden," he said.

"Max? It's - almost midnight - you'll wake Aster."

"I'm sorry, Kayden. I truly am. I would not call if it were not an emergency." He waited for her to speak. It was best to let her take her own sweet time to think things through. It helped give her the feeling that she was in control.

"Does this have to do with the news this afternoon? The new cape?"

"Tangentially," he said.

Another pause. "I'm not going after her. I don't care what she's done."

"I'm not asking you to," he replied. "And for the record, we only tried to speak to her. We received word that a black girl was involved in her trigger. We had hoped she might have been amenable to seeing reason."

"What happened?" she asked.

"In the course of our attempts to contact her," said Kaiser, "a number of our capes were arrested. Hookwolf, Victor, Othala, Rune Cricket and Stormtiger."

"Jesus," said Kayden. "That's almost everyone. The empire's been gutted."

Kaiser gritted his teeth and dug into his reserves for the humility necessary to deal with his ex. "Yes, you can see why it is an emergency. Will you assist our brothers and sisters in their liberation from the race traitors?"

This was it, he thought. He hoped he wouldn't have to play the Aster card, but he was ready for it. It was just so much more satisfying to secure the cooperation of others without resorting to threats.

"You'll sign the custody papers," she said finally.

He grimaced. He had been willing to do that as a last resort, but it didn't feel right simply capitulating. "Now is not the time to be-"

"Now is the perfect time, Max. Sign them, and I'll help."

She fucking cut him off. He momentarily fantasized about ramming a giant metal spear through her head.

"You would really let our friends go to the cage for your own selfish needs?" he asked. "She's my child as well."

"This is non-negotiable."

"Fine," he bit out. "But you must do exactly as I say. We need to move quicklly if we are to liberate our people. Can you arrange for Night, Fog and Crusader to participate?"

"Yes," she said.

"We will have to move tonight," he warned.

"That is fine. But first you will sign the paperwork."

"It'll have to wait until the morning. I'll need my solicitors-"

"None of that, Max. The papers are signed witnessed, and delivered to the lawyer's office first. I don't care if you have to rouse them from their beds. The papers first."

"It's the middle of the night."

"Make it happen, Max."

"Fine. Be here in an hour. I'll have everything ready."

He slammed the phone down and took a deep breath before picking it up again. He was going to have to make a lot of calls to get everything arranged in time.

~~JH~~

"Stormtiger's going to the cage," said Piggot without preamble. "You can choose to join him, or you can cut a deall." She watched Victor through the video monitor. Given his power, nobody was to be in the same room as him lest he steal their skills.

"You wouldn't send us to the cage," said Victor confidently. "We haven't engaged in any criminal-"

"Going to a cape's home and murdering her father doesn't count?" said Piggot impatiently. She had to play this right and put the heat on before they had a chance to think. Miss Militia was in the other room with Othala doing the same thing.

"That wasn't us," Victor protested, but Piggot could see the sudden spike of worry. She knew she had him. "That was Hookwolf."

"You're not winning any points blaming a dead cape," said Piggot calmly. "I'm sure you stole a lawyer's skills at some point in the past. You tell me what the rules are for felony murder."

He did not respond, and Piggot was not prepared to let him think that his responses mattered. "You're going to deal, Victor, or you're going to the birdcage." Piggot held the intercom button down and continued, "I'm tired of having you capes in the city. You're weaker than you've ever been, and you've crossed a line that lets me do what I've been wanting to do for a long time. The transport is already being arranged. You'll be in the cage before sunrise. While I'm sure you can handle yourself in prison, I do wonder how Othala will fare. You will not be able to protect her in there, and her power will not protect her from the hardened criminals who are going to be her new roommates. If she's lucky, she'll be taken under the wing of the fairy queen - assuming the fairy queen doesn't simply kill her to take her power."

She could see her words slowly but surely penetrating. Piggot let go of the intercom button as Miss Militia stepped out of the other interrogation room.

"She's hysterical," said Miss Militia. "She won't deal. All she wants is to see Victor. I think she'll do whatever he does. She doesn't want to be separated from him."

Piggot nodded. "That accords with the reports of their relationship." Piggot stared down at Victor. His expression gave nothing away, though she had to admit it was harder through a video monitor to judge people's reaction. "I think he still believes the empire will save him."

"It'll be hard to disabuse him of that notion in the time allotted," said Miss Militia.

Piggot nodded slowly. "Let's bundle Othala into a car and send her off right now," said Piggot. "Don't wait. Take Benson and Druthers as escorts. Is Vista on base? Send her too. You as well."

"But the van-?"

"Send her now," said piggot sharply. "And arrange for a video feed. Let's see how Victor fares when he watches his love vanish into the sunset."

Miss Militia digested that. "Okay."

Piggot thought she could hear Othala wailling from the other side of the building. Twenty minutes later, a nondescript car with Othala cuffed in the backseat sped out of the PRT base.

The car cleared five blocks before it disappeared from PRT sensors. Of course the officers could still radio in, but often in these circumstances, they weren't given a chance to since cape violence tended to be abrupt and brutal, and the PRT only found out there was a problem when the vehicle failed to radio in at the specified checkpoint.

This time Piggot had arranged for a transport to head out from Boston to intercept and collect Othala and hold her there. The empire did not have any movers in Brockton that could reach out to Boston and retrieve Othala. And they probably would not want to call on organized crime in Boston for assistance since there was no guarantee that any criminal group would give her back.

A PRT officer came bursting into Piggot's office. "Director," he said. "The prisoner - Victor - he wants to talk."

Piggot smiled a shark's grin. "I'm sure he does."

~~JH~~

Carlos stood watch atop the PRT building. He still had trouble believing what was happening. It was two in the morning, and the empire was having its knees cut out from under it. It wasn't dead - not by a long shot, but with half its capes dead or in custody, it definitely wasn't the bogeyman it'd once been. Of course, it remained to be seen if the PRT could hold onto their prisoners. While he wasn't keen on having his beauty sleep disrupted, he could appreciate why Piggot had called upon him to stand guard. He was tough, and he could fly. His biology meant that a lack of sleep didn't bother him. He was also the oldest of the wards and the leader so naturally, if there was any member of the wards to be called upon, it should be him.

Vista had gone out more than an hour ago with Miss Militia. He hadn't been happy about that. Vista was the youngest, but she was also dedicated and a consumate professional, and she was the best choice for enabling the vehicle to make it to its destination. Hopefully the fast departure meant that the empire wouldn't have time to figure out that their star cape was already gone. There was also a rumour that Victor and Othala were being given a deal to change sides. that didn't sit well with Carlos, but he understood the necessity of it. More capes meant more safety, and Othala's power was big league stuff.

Carlos' earpiece came to life. "Attention all personnel. The package is being deployed. Operation scattershot is now underway."

Carlos stood a little straighter. The next twenty minutes would be the critical time. The empire would not want to engage too close to the PRT, but neither would they want to let the vehicles get too far away lest they lose track of their quarry.

~~JH~~

Battery stared dispassionately at the young Nazi supervillain.

"I'll deal," said Victor reluctantly.

"Tell me everything you know about the empire," came the tinny voice of the Director. Victor began explaining.

With each word that came out of his mouth, Rune slouched a little further. This demonstration both had the effect of breaking Rune, and also allowed them to gauge the accuracy of Victor's information.

"I can't believe," she said miserably. "It wasn't supposed to be like this."

"The empire's just another gang," said Battery. She tried to be gentle. She tried to inflect her voice with the appropriate amount of sympathy, but it was hard. The truth was, she was ecstatic. Hookwolf was dead. That monster had killed more than his fair share of innocent people over the years, and his continued freedom was a sore spot for every member of the Protectorate ENE. "I know Kaiser likes to pretend it's different, but it's still all built on drugs and guns and extortion. Have you ever thought of what Brockton Bay would actually look like if Kaiser were in charge?"

"I don't want to talk about this. You can't keep me here. The others will come and get us." She glanced at the monitor where Victor was openly betraying the empire. "They'll come and get me."

"Who's going to come get you, Rune? asked Battery in that faux voice of conciliation. "The Director has already shipped out Othala. Victor's en route. Stormtiger is being collected as we speak. He's not being offered a deal. You understand that, don't you? His crimes are too severe. You have a second chance here. We don't give out third chances."

"There's still Kaiser, and Hookwolf-"

Battery pulled a photo out of her folio and slid it across the table. "Hookwolf and his gang went to go find the new cape this evening. They broke the unwritten rules. They went to her dad's house." Battery let her stare open-mouthed at the gruesome photos. "Hookwolf murdered the new cape's dad. The new cape - she didn't take it very well."

"I don't understand." Rune's voice was faint. Her eyes were trying to look anywhere but the photos. "He can't be dead. He's too powerful. You're lying."

Battery put a picture of what remained of Cricket. "The empire wanted you to confront this new cape too, didn't they? That's how you got injured in the first place. This," Battery stabbed her finger down on the image of Cricket's vacant llifeless gaze, "could have been you."

Rune started to cry. She was tired, and she still hadn't fully healed from the bullet wounds. "They'll kill me."

"If you stayed here, then yes. That's why we have to move you to another city."

"And my family?"

"They would have to come as well. That or they could relinquish custody to the state. The only other option is juvenil detention. Because of the nature of your power, you would have to wear a shock collar at all times, and your hands would have to remain encased in tinker gloves. They may also decide to use pharmaceuticals to help keep you docile."

Her tears were falling freely now. "No, it can't be like that. We were just trying to clean up the city. This isn't how it's supposed to go."

Battery sat back and waited. It was only a matter of time. In the background, Victor continued to rattle off a littany of names and details of the various members of Kaiser's organization.

"Okay," she whispered.

"You'll have to turn over evidence just like Victor. It's the only way we can be sure you can't go back to the empire."

Reluctantly, she nodded. "Where - where will I end up?"

"We're not monsters," said Battery gently. "You will be involved in that discussion. But you're going to have to get used to working with non-whites. There will likely be some mandatory therapy and community service as well."

Rune closed her eyes. "I'll do it."

In an adjacent room, the PRT officers observing the interview got to work preparing the paperwork.

"Start by telling me everything you know about the empire."


	2. Chapter 2

Arc 2: There is no emotion

"Do you see that?" Marissa asked, pointing to the bright spot of light on the Brockton Bay horizon.

Krouse nodded. "A cape fight."

"Must be Purity," said Genesis leaning between the seats from behind them. "She's supposed to be a big time artillery cape."

"Maybe we should hold off on going into the city until daylight." That was Oliver's suggestion.

"Maybe." Krouse slowed the vehicle a little. "We need to get to Coil's base before too long. Noelle will need to eat soon."

Marissa nodded. That was true. She glanced in the sideview mirror to see the trailer that currently housed her friend following along behind them. She was starting to lose faith that there was any hope for her friend, and that the only option would be to put her down.

Noelle would understand - she didn't want to be a monster, Marissa thought, and immediately felt guilty about it.

"Hey," said Francis, glancing over at her. "Don't get down. We're not out of options yet."

Marissa nodded. "I just wonder when we'll have real hope."

"Guys," said Genesis, "is it just me or is that cape fight coming in our direction?"

Marissa frowned as the light in the sky got bigger. "We can't get caught up in that. It'll disturb Noelle."

Francis pursed his lips. Nobody wanted Noelle to be disturbed. He took the next exit off the highway. There was an impound lot for derelict vehicles. He pulled into the parking lot and killed the engine.

"Let's just hope this isn't where they're headed."

"Hello? Anybody? I'm hungry."

Marissa tensed.

Francis hit the intercom switch and said, "Noelle, we're just taking a little detour. Nothing to worry about."

"What's going on?" came her voice through the speaker.

"There's a cape fight in Brockton," said Francis. "We decided to just wait it out."

"It's cramped in here," she whined. "And I'm hungry."

"I know, Noelle," he said. "We'll be there soon."

"When?" Now there was an undertone of something that always made Marissa shiver. It happened when the other mouths echoed her.

"Soon," Francis said in his stern leader voice. "Just be patient, Noelle."

The line went silent, and after a few seconds, they all breathed a sigh of relief.

"I'm going to step outside. I have to stretch my legs."

She could tell that Francis wanted to object. He always wanted to object to these little things, and it was slowly starting to irritate her. Finally, he said, "Be careful, and don't go too far."

Marissa got out of the car. It was dark out here, and there were no lights on anywhere for at least a hundred metres. She lit a small sun. No doubt Francis would not like it, but she needed the light and warmth. God she was tired. It hit her the worst in these late hours - the crushing hopelessness that made her want to just give up. But then she thought of the containment zone, and the horror within, and she steeled herself to keep going. Just put one foot in front of the next, she told herself.

The cape fight in the distance seemed to be in full swing. She wondered what it was all about, but dismissed the thought. There was always a cape fight going on it seemed. This world was so fucked up - sometimes she hated it. Sometimes she wished she could create a sun so big that it just swallowed up the world and burned everyone to ash.

The junkyard was a mess of broken glass and rusted out old cars. It was weird that the cars had been left here to decay. They were at least good for scrap. It was just another sign that this world was slipping away from the people who inhabited it.

Marissa almost felt it - a susurration in the air. Something clamped around her throat and lifted her in the air. Whatever it was it was vice-like. She scrabbled at her throat, but there was nothing to grasp.

"Who are you?" came a low, dangerous voice.

"Marissa tried to speak, but the air - it was all she could do to take in enough to breathe. Whoever was doing this seemed to realize the problem, and the pressure eased off.

"Who are you?" the person asked again. They were out of sight, but Marissa recognized the voice as belonging to a girl - someone young, if she had to guess.

"Sundancer," she managed. "Please, I didn't know you were here."

"You didn't," the person mused. The pressure eased further. "What are you doing all the way out here then?"

"That's private," Marissa replied, and then she added, "You wouldn't want me prying into your business, would you?"

"Yeah, I suppose you're right." The pressure vanished, and Marissa landed back on her feet. She turned around, her small sun illuminating the gaunt, slender figure that was crouched in the shadow of one of the wrecked trucks. Were those tears stains? Her face was covered in grime... no not grime... blood. She had had her face sprayed with blood, and then had cried, leaving tear tracks.

"Are you okay?" Marissa asked. "Are you-" she looked around, "-alone out here?"

The girl hesitated a moment before saying, "Yeah, I'm alone."

There was a note of pain in the girl's voice - something so wretched, so tortured - Marissa recognized it because it was the pain that lived in her heart as well.

"I'm alone too," Marissa said, and then, seeing her expression, hastened to add, "I mean me and my team. We're alone." That sounded lame, Marissa thought. The girl's obviously a cape, and she's obviously gone through something traumatic.

Marissa went and took a seat on the hood of a nearby car. It was a little uncomfortable, but something in her pushed her to try to help this girl. "What's your name?"

At first the girl didn't respond.

"Well I could call you the Strangler," Marissa teased, "but that wouldn't do for polite company."

"Taylor," said the girl. "My name is Taylor."

Marissa's mind raced. No cape name, but then again, neither of them were masked. "My name - my real name that is - is Marissa."

There was a moment of silence that filled the space between them. "Is that your team?" Taylor gestured in the direction she had come from.

Marissa nodded. "We're the Travelers."

"I've heard of you," Taylor said. "Just a little though."

"We're mercenaries," she said. "I guess you could say we're technically villains."

Taylor nodded. "I might be a villain too. I don't know."

"What happened?" This was a tricky question. Obviously the girl was a little unstable, but maybe allowing her to talk about it would help her.

"I'm a new cape," Taylor said. "I triggered a few weeks ago. The empire found out. They tried to corner me. I fought back. They came to my..." The girl leaned against the side of the car and hugged herself. Marissa went over and knelt next to her and hugged her. Blood and fresh tears seeped into her shirt, and suddenly the girl - Taylor - was gripping her fiercely. "They killed him," she sobbed. "My dad... the empire - they killed him."

Marissa tightened her grip. The pain and misery in those few words was like a condensed version of the last year of her life.

"Shh," said Marissa. "It'll be okay, Taylor."

Taylor continued to cry, and Marissa continued to hold her and try to comfort her. If I can at least help this poor girl, maybe it'll make all the deaths we've caused worth it.

After a few minutes, the girl managed to get herself under control. She pulled away and silently stared at the ground.

"You should go," she said. "Your teammates are getting anxious. One of them is getting out of the car."

Marissa was startled. The girl must have phenomenal senses to detect all that. Obviously Francis was worried and would come to investigate. It was brave of him since his power would be limited here in the dark.

"What will you do?" Marissa asked.

The girl shrugged. "Dunno." She looked around, as if seeing the yard for the first time. "I could stay here I suppose. Maybe move a few of these wrecks around and build a shelter."

Marissa hoped the girl was joking. She made a show of looking around. "I could see it," she said. "Though it'd be an awfully drafty little hut. And no central heating..."

"Don't be such a princess," the girl said, and there was the barest hint of a smile. "It'd be like camping."

"I've been camping," said Marissa. "You know campgrounds have things like outhouses, and firewood."

"Details, details."

"Listen," Marissa began, "I don't feel good about leaving you out here like this. We're going in to Brockton Bay. Maybe we could give you a lift somewhere?"

The girl was shaking her head in long, slow strokes. "I have nowhere."

Like us, Marissa thought. On an impulse that she herself didn't fully understand, she said, "Come with us then. You could join us."

The girl looked up and peered at Marissa intently. Her gaze sharpened, and it felt as though Marissa were being examined under a microscope. A very powerful microscope.

The sense of being scrutinized passed, and the girl shook her head. "I have big enemies in Brockton Bay. You wouldn't want me."

"It's not about wanting you," Marissa said. "We'd be a team. A burden shared is a burden halved."

The girl seemed to be mulling over her words. "You don't even know me."

"Do you leave the toilet seat up?" she asked lightly.

"Uh, no?"

"Well then I'm sure we'll get along famously."

The girl smiled. "You're really serious? You're asking a strange cape who you've only just met and who nearly strangled you to death to join you and your team?"

"Sure," said Marissa easily, "but you should know we've got serious baggage of our own. We're mercenaries for a reason."

The girl's gaze lost focus for a second. "Does it have to do with that... whatever's in the trailer?"

Marissa's heart skipped a beat.

"Sorry," the girl mumbled. "I didn't mean to pry."

Marissa relaxed fractionally. Still, she didn't quite know what to make of the girl before her. "Yeah," she said, "that's a big part of the baggage. We're trying to help her, but it's difficult, and she's very dangerous."

The girl frowned. "A case 53?"

"Kind of," said Marissa, and the girl's gaze fixed on her once more.

After a moment, she nodded. "Okay, I'll join. It's not like I have anything else."

That wasn't exactly a ringing endorsement, but Marissa thought it would do for now.

"Get away from her," said Francis. When Marissa looked over, she was startled to see that he was holding a gun.

"Trickster," she half-shouted into the dark. "Put that away. When she turned back to the girl - Taylor - she saw that the girl had a small smile playing on her lips.

"He can pull the trigger if he wants to," she said lightly. "but I wouldn't recommend it. I don't think he'd appreciate the result. Hookwolf sure didn't."

Marissa thought of the telekinetic grip that had hoisted her into the air. "Put it down, Trickster."

"You don't know who she is," he insisted. "Get away from her."

"She's our newest member." Marissa stood and faced him, inwardly pleased at the astonishment on his face. He glanced back between her and the girl before his expression darkened.

"Let's take a walk, shall we?"

~~JH~~

I watched Marissa and Trickster walk away. He was obviously the leader. He seemed to me to be a bit of an ass, though it was hard to tell because of the waves of stress and exhaustion and desperation rolling off them. I knew better than anyone what that could do to a person. The memory of Hookwolf's roasting flesh struck me. I shuddered.

While they argued or debated or whatever they did when making decisions like this, I occupied myself by studying the thing in the trailer. It was massive - too big to be a human. Not to mention its proportions were all wrong. It felt like it had two minds. There was the more human intelligence, but there was also something else. I had only sensed something similar in rabid or starved animals. It was all bestial rage and predatory hunger. I debated trying to manipulate its thoughts and emotions but decided against it. I didn't know what I was dealing with, and didn't want to set it off. So I continued to study it. There was something familiar about the two minds that occupied the same space, though I couldn't quite put my finger on it.

My thoughts returned to Trickster and Marissa as I sensed one of them make a phone call. I frowned. Who would they be calling at this hour? Marissa had said they were mercenaries. Were they going into Brockton Bay on a job, and if so, who were they working for? The thought that they might be working for the empire made me pause. That was a distinct possibility. The only other two gangs I was familiar with was the ABB and the merchants, and neither of them seemed likely to want to hire a team of cape mercenaries. I reflexively clenched my fist. It would be a cold day in hell before I ever worked for the empire. I would sooner mount their heads on pikes.

Whatever conversation they were having, there were no spikes of alarm… no sense that they were gearing up for battle. I tried to remember what their powers were, but couldn't for the life of me. And the name Trickster gave little away save to suggest that he had a stranger power. I tensed as they came back. The force was whispering a warning to me – but it wasn't a warning of danger exactly. It was more like a warning to choose carefully.

"Taylor," called Marissa. "You're officially invited to join the Travelers." She held out a hand. I stared at it for a long moment. The force intensified. On the edge of my senses, it felt like a storm was gathering, as if I was at a nexus, and there would be no returning from whatever that choice was. I looked up at Marissa's warm, welcoming eyes, and reached up to take her hand.

~~JH~~

The van was a little squished with the other occupants, but everyone seemed to be good sports about it, even though I still had blood and other things on me.

"First things first," said Genesis. "We need to get you a proper cape name."

I shrugged. "Any suggestions?"

"Actually," said Oliver, who was scanning PHO on his phone, "The PRT has already assigned you a name. Zephyr. It's already going around PHO along with your known powers – enhanced speed, reflexes, senses, telekinesis and a blaster power."

I thought about that for a moment. It made sense with my speed and telekinesis. I could see why the Protectorate when with it. "Not my first choice, but I can live with it."

"Well if you want something else, you'd best pick it quick," said Oliver. "otherwise, people will get used to it, and you'll never be able to change it later. At least, not without a lot of effort re-branding."

"Hey," said Trickster, "listen up. Due to the delay, we're going straight to Coil's base. We'll be there in about thirty minutes. Anyone want a chance to freshen up, we can try to hit an out of the way gas station or something." He glanced at me assessingly. "You might have to wait until we get to the base, Zephyr. You're a little hot at the moment, and we can't afford drawing attention to ourselves on the way into the city."

I nodded. I had already ruined a towel trying to clean the grime off myself, and I had only succeeded in getting the worst of it off. I still looked like an extra in a zombie horror movie. And I smelled about ten times worse.

I had no doubt that the lightshow in the middle of the night was part of the fallout from my fight with the empire earlier. As we drove into Brockton Bay, I searched for the damage that might have been done from the recent cape fight. However, I didn't see any. Whatever must have happened must have been relatively contained.

Coil's base was an underground Endbringer shelter. I was very impressed that he managed to appropriate one. It surely wasn't an easy feat stealing one out from under the noses of the Protectorate. I was already expanding my consciousness, filling in the details, learning its labyrinthine halls and the various traps and chokepoints that were hidden within the walls. From what little I knew of coil, he was a slippery fellow. I wouldn't be surprised if he had other boltholes like this. The fact that he could hire mercenaries - cape mercenaries as well - suggested a lot of money. I paused as we were led through the halls. If I wasn't mistaken, that was a massive shaped charge hidden in the wall inside one of the main supports. I caught up with my new team, my mind racing. He could blow the entire complex, killing everyone inside. I resolved to keep an eye on him just in case. Getting caught in a blast like that would surely kill me and my entire team. I had a team...

I was still exploring that thought when we finally met Coil.

"Welcome," he said, as we piled into his office. I noted the walls were thicker here - no doubt he could lock the room down, seal it off and protect himself that extra bit. I reached out even further - yes - there was a secret exit. Inwardly I was pleased. He was a proper supervillain.

"I see that Zephyr has agreed to join the Travelers," Coil was saying.

So Coil had been the person Trickster had called, which meant that Coil had given the okay for me joining whatever job this was that Coil needed to hire a mercenary cape team for.

"Of course I will put all my resources behind securing a cure for Ms. Meinhardt. I've already arranged accommodations to your specifications here on the base."

"Good," said Trickster. "It would be best if we moved her quickly. I should be there to supervise and help keep her calm."

Coil nodded slowly. "Understandable."

"If I may ask," said Marissa, "what exactly will we be doing during our contract?"

"Odd jobs on an as-needed basis," said Coil. "My long-term plan is to remove the gangs and fix the city. Increase jobs, create safety and prosperity. While I am technically a villain, it is more to do with my methods rather than my goals. In that regard, I may share something in common with your newest member."

"You mean because I killed Hookwolf and Cricket?" I asked.

"Precisely," he said, sounding pleased. "On that note, I do want to clarify something. It was my understanding when hiring the Travelers, that I was hiring professional mercenaries. As well, I was hiring a team of non-Brockton Bay natives. Zephyr's presence complicates matters in both regards. My understanding is that she is a new cape who has undergone a rather severe traumatic episode yesterday. In addition, some of the tasks that I assign to the Travelers may cause her to experience a conflict of interest, since this is her hometown. I require assurance that neither of these issues will affect your performance."

The Travelers and Coil turned to me as one. I had honestly not considered these things, but I felt committed to this course now. The Travelers took me in. They didn't have to do that. "There's nothing left in this city for me," I said truthfully. "The Travelers picked me up as I was leaving it." I glanced at them as if, by sight alone I could order the words that tumbled around in my head. "I'm not a professional mercenary. That's true. But I'll do my best to fit in."

Coil nodded, seeming satisfied. "Excellent. Welcome to Brockton Bay."

~~JH~~

Coil watched the Travelers file out of his office. His gaze lingered on where Zephyr had stood. He was both pleased and worried by her presence on the team. Reports indicated that she was both a master and a thinker. He would have to devote a significant amount of his power to making sure she didn't use her power on him. Still, she was a powerful and versatile cape, and there was much opportunity to be had with her in his employ. Her powers would synergize nicely with the Travelers, though he thought she would do even better with the Undersiders. Of course, that would mean allowing regular contact between her and his new acquisition, Tattletale, which probably wouldn't bode well for him in the long run.

He still had the other timeline in reserve - the one where he instructed Trickster not to invite Zephyr. he dropped it with only a minor bit of hesitation. he split the timeline again. It was best to have a feel for Zephyr's powers sooner rather than later. he was going to enjoy this. He called Fish, one of his subordinates, into his office

"Yes, boss?"

"Assemble a team and apprehend Zephyr. use as much force as you believe is required to subdue her."

Fish nodded and left. There wasn't even a hint of hesitation in his response. Coil made a mental note to make sure to keep Fish around.

Coil watched on the monitor as Fish gathered his five best mercenaries. They armed themselves and went hunting. Coil leaned forward and studied Zephyr on the monitors. Fish's team was still three rooms away when she grew distracted. She glanced at the door and frowned. "Definitely a thinker," he murmured. By the time Fish was at the door to their quarters, she was gesticulating wildly and arguing with Trickster. Fish entered fast and hard, his team fanning out around him. Three of them were pointing tranquilizer guns at her. The other two had assault rifles. Coil approved. They did not hesitate in firing. Ten seconds later, they were all dead. he watched as the Travelers continued to argue. They apparently decided to make a break for it. Interesting, he thought. They were more intent on escaping than seeking revenge. He cancelled the timeline and broke it into two.

he summoned Fish into his office. "Subdue Zephyr. use extreme prejudice. She is a thinker and will know you're coming. The Travelers are collateral damage." Fish gathered his men and went after her again. This time, Fish pulled out the high-tech tinker guns. Instead of entering the room, they shot through the door. The Travelers were killed within seconds. Zephyr was on the move though, finding a spot that was out of their sight lines. She turned to one side, examined one of the walls and then waved her hand at it. The wall exploded outward. She was through an instant later, moving so fast she blurred. She came around and killed Fish and his men. She then moved to escape. Without the Travelers, she had a much tougher time making it through the compound. Still, it was clear the soldiers were no match for her. She anticipated every move to a degree that bordered on precognition. She could clearly also sense their location no matter how many there were and no matter what they did to try to sneak up on her. They were simply incapable of surprising her. He cancelled the timeline as she punched through the exit.

He killed the timeline and broke it again.

he called Fish in. "Kill Zephyr. use overwhelming force. She is a thinker, a mover, a precog, and a telekinetic."

This time Fish did hesitate. "How many men can I use?"

"Use everyone," said Coil after a moment.

The battle was much more violent. Zephyr was speared through her stomach, and her left arm had been blown clean off. She still managed to kill all twenty soldiers. This time though, instead of escaping, she limped in his direction. he waited patiently to see what she would do when she reached him. He had no illusions that she could tear through the steel-reinforced door that led to his office. However, when she arrived, all she did was sag against the wall and close her eyes. For a moment, he thought she might simply expire right then and there. A moment later, the world turned to fire and pain.

Coil jerked backward in his seat as the other timeline disappeared. he stared dumbfounded as the sensation of death slowly dissipated. What the hell happened? he tried to think it through past the haze from the death experience. Had she revealed yet another power? That didn't sound right. There hadn't even been a whisper of warning before the sudden and powerful explosion occurred. It reminded him of a very large, very powerful bomb going off. He glanced at the load-bearing wall where the c4 was located. Could it be? Had she somehow been able to probe the interior of the wall with her thinker power and then use her telekinesis to activate the charges? Perhaps her thinker and telekinetic powers were not two separate powers but two aspects of the same power. Perhaps the telekinesis was like fingers. Maybe it let her extrapolate information much as one would use their tactile sense. Understanding her power more fully would require further experimentation.

She wasn't invincible, but the sheer versatility of her powers made her one of the most dangerous capes in the bay – at least dangerous to him. And that wasn't even taking into consideration her master power. He'd read the PRT report on her encounter with Rune, and so he knew without a doubt that she did in fact have a master power. Possibly she had an aversion to it - an ingrained reflex since even among capes masters were barely tolerated.

The Travellers, including Zephyr, were relaxing in their private living room. As he watched them on the monitor, he mused that it was fortunate that the Travelers had brought her to his attention. Now he could keep her close and make use of her extraordinary talents. As well, he could develop more effective counter-measures in the event that she ever turned on him.

~~JH~~

Days had passed since we first arrived at Coil's base. I was sitting in my room meditating when I felt my teammates stirring. I opened my eyes and was already gathering my things when Oliver knocked on the door.

"coming!" I called, holstering the .357 handgun I had requisitioned from the armory. I had pushed for one of the tinker guns, but Coil firmly refused. It was irritating, but I had to admit that learning to use a gun was more work than I realized. The mercenary that was training me, Welles, made it clear I had to clean my gun after every use. If he found out I wasn't taking care of it properly, then he would confiscate it for a week. Learning to sight a target, point and shoot and adjust for things like recoil were getting easier. I was sure that my power was helping me along, but if Welles thought I was a fast learner, he didn't give any indication.

I had also asked for a martial arts tutor for hand-to-hand and melee weapons combat. Coil had obliged, and I was pleased with his pick. I had to go at merely human speed when practising, but I could refresh myself as often as I wanted using the force, so I could practise harder and longer. I almost got the sense that the force was encouraging my tutelage in the martial arts - though maybe that was just me projecting.

I stepped out of my room and into the common area that had been made available inside of Coil's base.

"Boss has a job for us," said Trickster. "He wants us to hit an ABB drug den. We're to make off with both the cash and the drugs. If we move quickly enough, there's a good chance we won't run into any parahumans. No witnesses are to be left alive."

Marissa's eyes widened at that last statement, but I understood immediately. "He wants Lung to think it's Kaiser."

Trickster continued, "Whatever we find in terms of money we can keep. I propose we put the entirety of the money into a fund for use by the group in finding a cure for Noelle."

Inwardly, I frowned. I felt sorry for the girl, but I had other concerns as well. "I require my share for other matters," I said.

Trickster's gaze sharpened as he turned to me. "Maybe you don't understand how things work in the Travelers. We're a team, and that means we help each other out. Right now, Noelle is the one who needs our help the most."

Trickster's anger, always so close to the surface, stirred agitatedly. The others, sensing it, grew tense in response.

I didn't want to start an argument, but I didn't want to just give up my share of the money either. "And what do you plan to do with the money then?" I asked. "What's your plan for finding a cure?"

Trickster set his jaw. "You don't get to come in here out of the blue and start criticizing how we do things."

The rage, which had lain quiescent since my fight with Hookwolf, now stirred. I tamped down the urge to separate Trickster's head from his body. This was not the time to get violent. Yet the cold clarity that came with combat filled me nevertheless. It was at times like this that my power felt the most dangerous. My power whispered to me all the ways I could get what I want… and none of the Travelers would ever be the wiser. A nudge of Trickster's thoughts here and there, and he would be happy to give me my share. But no, I couldn't. I had resolved not to use my master powers. Not on enemies unless necessary, and never on my friends. I needed to win this with words.

"I don't get to question? Seriously?" I pierced each of my teammates with my gaze. None of them could look me in the eye, which told me enough about their thoughts to formulate the words that would defeat Trickster. "It seems to me that if money were the solution, you could have just robbed a few banks and solved the problem a long time ago. You're looking for a parahuman power, aren't you? Something that neutralizes other parahumans? A trump?" I paused, my mind racing as I tried to piece together what little bits I knew of the Travelers, using the force to glue them together into a coherent pattern. "So you drifted around, and decided maybe Accord could help you. He's great with plans." I considered. "You don't have a plan yourself, isn't that right? So you're going from thinker to thinker, hoping one will come up with one for you."

"That's enough," he said. "If you aren't prepared to do what's best for the team, then-"

"She has a point," Marissa cut in. I silently applauded her even though I could tell she was nervous and didn't want to fight. "That's exactly what we've been doing. Don't throw her out just because she's pointing out the truth." She turned to me. "You're a thinker, aren't you?"

"I am."

"Do you think you might be able to help her?"

Trickster's anger was threatening to boil over, but before it did so, the door opened, and another mercenary stepped in. "The boss is instructing you to go now."

A moment of awkward tension hung in the air. Silently, we all agreed to set the disagreement aside for now.

~~JH~~

Trickster explained the plan on the way. Coil was hoping to incite conflict between the ABB and the empire. This made sense to me, and I was impressed with his thinking. Kaiser was already down after losing so many capes. I'd heard from Coil that Kaiser had managed to retrieve Stormtiger, and that a cape faction led by Purity had broken off, but now returned in the wake of the loss of Hookwolf, Victor, Othala, and Rune.

"Have you ever killed before?" I asked Marissa quietly. We were both sitting in the back seat. I pitched my voice a little low, but not so much so as to make it obvious I was trying to have a private conversation.

Marissa jerked as if electrocuted. She turned to me questioningly, and then her gaze softened. "I have," she said hesitantly. "It still haunts me."

I nodded. "Me too. It's only been a week since that day, but..." I thought of my dad, and of Hookwolf. I thought of my out-of-control rage, and the sensation of my power filling me. "does it get easier?" I asked finally.

Marissa shrugged helplessly. "It doesn't feel like it does, but I try to look at the reasons I have to keep going." After a moment, she went on, "It's hard for me. It feels like my power's only good for destroying things."

I thought about that for a second. I tried to imagine how I would feel if I could create these giant balls of super-hot plasma. "You could use your suns for light," I mused. "Maybe a hydroponics lab. Or a solar power generator."

Marissa smiled. "Maybe when we finish helping Noelle."

"I was wondering if Panacea might be able to fix her," I said.

"We looked into the big name healers when we first got set up," Marissa said. "It didn't sound like Panacea had ever fixed something like this. And Trickster-" she pitched her voice so that no one else could hear, "-he refused Protectorate assistance. We all did. Our story is a little more complicated than what you know."

I refrained from asking what she meant. I could feel through the force that she was deeply conflicted saying anything, and she was already starting to regret saying this much.

"S'okay," I said. "I don't want to pry. But if you do ever want to talk, I'll be here to listen."

Marissa reached out and squeezed my hand in gratitude. I squeezed back.

"All right," called Trickster. "We're at the drop-off point."

We quickly ditched the car and began to walk two blocks before making our way up a fire escape to the top of a building. From there we had to use Trickster's power in concert with mind to move people from building to building. I would jump over, and then Trickster would sub me out for one of the team, and then I would jump again. On the final jump, Genesis would carry him over. In this fashion, we leap-frogged over to the ABB drug den.

If I understood correctly, this was some sort of distribution hub. Drugs came into the city and were deposited at this staging point before being packaged and redistributed. Similarly, money was collected and brought back here. Somehow, Coil had uncovered a super-massive shipment that was scheduled to come in. Apparently Lung wanted to try to muscle in on empire territory now that they had been weakened.

"Sundancer," said Trickster. "You'll stay behind and provide backup. Hopefully we shouldn't need it. However, if they see you, you must not let them get away."

She nodded grimly in acknowledgement.

"When we go in," said Trickster, "my job will be to create confusion and begin moving the product out of the warehouse. Ballistic will aim to kill everyone in sight. Genesis will serve as our tank." He turned to me. "Your job is to come in from the roof and make sure no one escapes. I'm told you can tell if there's anyone hiding in the building. Find them and eliminate them."

I was startled to realize that this was known about my power, but I kept a neutral expression. "What if Lung shows up?"

"I'm told it won't be a problem. Coil approved the plan."

Before we knew it, we were on the move. I was starting to feel uncomfortable. I didn't know why, but, somehow, I had thought that killing Hookwolf and Cricket had turned me into a killer… that killing was just something I could do. But it had been different then. They were capes, and they were the aggressors. And they killed my dad. My emotions had been so tangled up that I hadn't even felt like I had been fully in control. It was only after, when I'd come off of the rush of adrenalin and power that I had been capable of fully considering what I'd done. Except that even then, the death of my dad had been too raw – too painful – and so the whole episode had been shunted to the side in favour of focusing on simpler, more pressing matters.

Now though, it was dawning on me in a way it hadn't before that I was going to be killing people in cold blood. Just ordinary people. I didn't even know what crimes these people were guilty of. I didn't even know if they were guilty of crimes. I cast my consciousness in the direction of the warehouse. There were 48 souls there. This was who I was now. I was a cape supervillain. And I was part of a team - a team who was depending on me. Maybe if I were alone, I could abandon the mission and maybe even abandon Coil, but I wasn't alone.

Ballistic and Trickster teleported down to the street, Genesis leaping down after them. Seconds later, Ballistic was blowing the front doors into the building. Two souls vanished from my senses.

"You should go," said Marissa quietly. I could tell she wasn't happy with what we were doing either. Somehow, her discomfort helped me set aside my own unease.

I leapt across the street and onto the building. More people were dying down below. I hesitated a second before unlocking the rooftop accessway and bounding down the stairwell. I owed the ABB nothing, and I had a team to protect. These were the thoughts that I kept in the forefront of my mind as I flicked the safety off my pistol.

The second floor of the warehouse was made up of small offices with one long hallway that overlooked the warehouse floor. There were six people in the offices themselves and eight armed men in the hallway. Four of them had rifles and were aiming down at the warehouse floor through slits in the wall. No doubt they intended to snipe Trickster and Ballistic. Neither of them were brutes, and if they got hit - it would only take one good hit to kill one of them.

Time slowed as I opened up to the force. My thoughts sharpened, and the situation seemed to clarify itself. There were four snipers. The other four men in the hallway were guards whose function was to protect the snipers so they could make the kill. One had a cell phone. He had to be the first to die, lest he identify us to his boss. That would defeat the whole purpose of the mission.

Without hesitation, I turned the corner, raised my pistol, sighted and fired. The slug hit the cell phone guy in the side of the head. He spasmed in a violent paroxysm before collapsing, a cry stuttering on his lips. The other three guards whipped around and tracked me with their own guns. I ducked back behind the corner. One of them shouted at the snipers to get the capes down below, and I felt the snipers focus their attention back on the warehouse floor.

A whisper of danger had me raising a telekinetic shield. A second later a hail of bullets curved around me like waves around a boat. I raised my own pistol and fired through the drywall. Each bullet found its mark with superhuman precision. The three remaining guards were on the ground bleeding from torso shots when I walked around the corner. The four snipers turned as one as they realized the danger they were in.

All four of them aimed their rifles at me. I let them fire. I could feel that these guns were different. These bullets travelled at much higher speeds, and they felt sturdier somehow. Still, they were nothing compared to a blaster bolt. I raised my hand, and the bullets went careening off to either side. I snatched two in midair and let them curve around my body and projected them back at the men who fired them. The bullets struck them right between the eyes and punched through their skulls. I telekinetically snapped the third sniper's neck. this wasn't a fight, I thought. This was a slaughter.

The last sniper tossed his gun to the side and ran down the hall. I gave him a force push that sent him tumbling with a terrified cry. I sucked in more of my power in an attempt to find the cold clarity that would numb me to this task. I unsheathed my combat knife. Coil had said it was a 10" HK - the kind favoured by the empire. I walked over to the last man and knelt beside his trembling body.

"Please," he begged, "I surrender."

I closed my eyes and steeled myself. The force seemed to guide my hand on how to slit his throat to make it as painless as possible. I had to use the force to keep me from throwing up. These were bad guys. I held onto that thought like a lifeline. They enslaved, raped and trafficked women.

I was about to move to dispatch the 6 people hiding in the offices, but was stopped by a bolt of panic. My gaze tracked upward, pinpointing Marissa through the drywall and steel and concrete. She was freaking out… and there was someone else up there with her. Someone who was… teleporting. Fuck.

All thoughts of the mission were shoved aside by the singular, all-consuming need to protect Marissa. I raised one hand and telekinetically punched a hole clean through the roof. I was leaping up an instant later.

Marissa was flitting back and forth on the roof of the adjacent building, whipping her sun back and forth. clouds of ash were blowing about her as she desperately tried to keep Oni Lee at bay. I narrowed my eyes as I took in the scene. At any given moment there could be as many as three of him. It was impossible for Marissa to tell which one was the real Oni Lee… but not for me. Only the real Oni Lee had a genuine force signature. The others were just pale imitations.

I sensed the instant he appeared behind me. I whirled around so fast, I had time to see his eyes widen as the tip of my knife bit into his throat before he burst into ash. Before he had a chance to fully corporealize ten feet away, I was throwing the knife. It arrived there a fraction of a second before he did, his flesh materializing around the blade. He stared down at it dumbly before vanishing into ash once more.

I summoned the knife to my hand, and tried to recall anything about the teleporter that might help me. Nothing came to mind, and every moment I spent fumbling for a solution was another opportunity he had to kill Marissa. I had to hit him so fast and hard that he simply couldn't teleport. But I just didn't have that kind of firepower. I needed a - "A sun," I breathed. All of this flashed through my mind in the span of an eyeblink.

He reappeared next to Marissa, who cried out as she stumbled gracelessly away from the dagger in his hand. There was no more time to explore this aspect of my power. I reached and seized Sundancer's mind with all my strength. I felt, for an instant, like I was in two places at once, and then my original consciousness was fading into the background.

~~JH~~

Oni Lee stared dispassionately at the sun girl. He knew she had teammates in the building. He debated killing her quickly and hunting them, but decided it would be better to let them come to him. They would undoubtedly try to rescue her, and he would have much greater freedom of movement out here where there was so much more room to teleport.

The first cape to appear was rail-thin and tall. She looked as though a stiff wind could knock her over. She held a combat knife in one hand and a gun in the other. No obvious indications of power. Likely a thinker.

He ported over, intent on making a quick kill. The girl moved so fast and so decisively that it was all he could do to port away before she severed his head. When he re-materialized, there was already a knife embedded in his chest. He vanished again - this time to street level. He had to catch himself. He almost hadn't made it. He touched his chest and was pleased to see the wound hadn't taken. And yet, the phantom sensation of death remained. Instinctively, he shied away from the thought of confronting the knife girl again. She'd thrown the knife before he materialized. Definitely a thinker. Probably a precog of some kind. That was too much for him. If anyone could kill him, it would be a precog. And yet he couldn't leave. Capes were stealing from Lung. That was intolerable. It would be better to kill the sun girl, he decided, and then he could kill the other capes in the warehouse. Once the knife girl was alone, he could figure out how to kill her.

With a plan now fixed in his mind, he ported back to the sun girl, now determined to finish her off. He reappeared on the rooftop right in front of her. He made sure the Sun girl was between himself and the knife girl to ensure that another knife didn't end up in his chest. His blade was already in motion. Miraculously, the girl managed to bring her forearm up to deflect the blade. Instead of skewering her through the stomach - a slow yet lethal and excruciating wound, he parted only flesh. Further, there was something - a sudden look in her eyes that hadn't been there before. He ported behind her and thrust out again, but she was leaping away with more agility than she had demonstrated so far.

He ported again, but this time when he reappeared, he was pushed back by an explicable wave of force, which nearly sent his knife tumbling from his grip. That would have been embarrassing. The girl began moving drunkenly, clutching the side of her head with one hand, staggering away from him. He stopped, puzzled at the strange display. A thought was trying to creep through his brain, but there had been too many teleports already. Hadn't he been planning to keep her alive so he could draw out her teammates? No, he thought. He had abandoned that plan, but he couldn't quite remember why.

A sun formed to the girl's left. It was rapidly growing in size. It almost looked like she was going to fall into it. That would be convenient. It would do his job for him. But no - she was holding her own, if only barely. Now was the time to strike. The sun grew to the size of a basketball – he could feel the blistering heat all the way over here. And it was still growing. Better to get in there and make the kill now.

He teleported to the girl's right. His arm was in mid-swing, the knife pointed sure and true, when suddenly his arm was flying off into the distance, the knife still clutched in its hand. The world tumbled crazily. Were those his legs? Something had gone wrong. It was hard to see. The sun was blinding. He had teleported right into the sun. But no, it was supposed to be on her left, and now it was on her right. His vision was fading. The last thing he saw were her eyes, which glowed golden in the reflected light of that brilliant, burning orb.

~~JH~~

I staggered backward and collapsed. Marissa mirrored me, and I feared she might stagger right off the edge of the building. Trickster and Ballistic were just reaching the rooftop and taking stock of what had happened when I locked gazes with Marissa. Sensation was coming back to me, and I could see in her eyes and feel in her presence that she was starting to grasp what I had done.

I had fucking possessed her. An old instinct to run and hide swept over me. They would hate me. She would hate me. It was better to run than to be part of a team where I was a pariah. I couldn't handle that.

"What the hell happened?" asked Trickster. He swapped something. I only realized after a few seconds that he was now holding Oni Lee's head. That's right, I thought. I had created a sun using Sundancer's power and had vaporized his torso.

I opened my mouth to speak but couldn't find the words. I didn't know which truths to say and which lies. I didn't know what Marissa would say.

She was still on the other building, and that was where we had to get to. Trickster seemed to understand this, because he began swapping until we were all on the other side.

"Sundancer," he said. "Can you walk?"

She nodded.

"Can you use your powers?"

After a moment's pause, she nodded hesitantly.

Trickster pointed to the ABB warehouse they had just demolished. A van down below was driving away with the drugs that Trickster had teleported from the warehouse.

"We need to go, and you need to burn that building down."

I remembered. This was a critical part of the plan. I looked at Marissa whose thought process mirrored my own. Had we just shared thoughts?

"I got it," she said shakily. She summoned a sun over the building and let it descend into the structure. It took only thirty seconds for the heat to melt the bricks and stone and incinerate the wood and drywall. The six people that had been hiding inside died horribly in fire.

We returned back to the van and were soon cruising away from the wreckage.

"I think it should hold up as Purity's handiwork," Trickster muttered. Then, after a moment, he turned and said, "Now can you two please tell me what the hell happened?"

I gave Marissa a significant glance. I didn't want Trickster to know, but I wasn't going to force Marissa to lie to her teammates. That'd have to be her choice.

"I almost died," she said reluctantly. "Oni Lee came for me. He was toying with me when Zephyr showed up."

Trickster put up a hand to stop her and he turned to me. "How did you know Sundancer was in trouble?"

"I can sense if there is trouble. I went up to check."

Trickster nodded, satisfied, and turned to Sundancer to continue.

"When he saw Zephyr, he went straight for her," said Sundancer. "But he couldn't get close to her, and she managed to injure him. I'm pretty sure I saw a knife sticking out of his chest at one point. Then he teleported away. I didn't know if he was going to come back, so I kept a sun with me. I was moving it back and forth to try to ward him off when he just teleported right into it. He was dead before he could teleport again."

There was a moment's silence as Trickster and Ballistic digested this. Genesis was no longer with them. She had obviously decided to abandon her projection after the fighting was done. It was truly inspired that she chose to project herself as a fifteen foot tall blonde valcry. Anyone in the area who had been watching who saw it would no doubt think it was either Fenja or Menja.

"I can't say I'm happy that Oni Lee nearly got you," said Trickster, "but I'm happy you and Zephyr were able to come out on top. This can only help us in the long run. Coil will have to see that we're valuable after this."

I breathed a sigh of relief both that Marissa had omitted what I had done, and that Trickster didn't suspect anything. When I looked up, Marissa was watching me, and I sensed that she and I were going to have a long conversation in the near future.

~~JH~~

Marissa was about to speak, but I leaned in close and cut her off with a gesture.

"Not yet, "I whispered, leaning in close to her ear. I made a point of chatting about inane stuff until we were five blocks away from Coil's base. Finally, I said, "Coil's got bugs all over the place. He's even got the sidewalks around his base bugged to a distance of about five blocks."

She frowned. "That's a little paranoid."

"You know he's got bugs in our rooms," I added.

Marissa's frown morphed into a half-grimace half-scowl. "There better not be any cameras."

"Only a camera in the common room," I said.

"Well that's something. I can't say I'm surprised," she muttered, and then, more to herself, "It's not like we didn't know he's a supervillain."

"Yeah," I said. "Kind of goes with the territory. I'm still waiting for him to laugh maniacally. Or, you know, cackle."

Marissa snorted, and I sensed her mood lighten. In turn, I relaxed.

"So," she said, "you possessed me."

"Yeah." And just like that, all levity was gone. I opened my mouth to protest, to tell her that I had no choice - that it was that or let her be killed, but she put up a hand to stop me.

She furrowed her eyebrows. She was concentrating hard, and I couldn't help but think that she looked adorable doing it. "You saved my life," she said. "I get that. I really do, but I can't seem to shake the sensation of losing control. It was terrifying. It felt like I was dying... like I actually died..."

I nodded. "I know. It was like that for me too. My body seemed to vanish, and suddenly I was trying to-" I hesitated. "It felt like I was a spirit animating a puppet. I'm sorry."

"I'm not angry," she said. "It feels weird, but I don't expect an apology-"

"I'm sorry anyway."

"-but even if you think it's necessary to save my life in the future," she went on doggedly, "I just wanted to say... don't." She turned and looked me in the eye. "If it comes down to possessing me again or letting me die, then let me die."

My mind blanked at this proclamation. "Marissa..." I didn't know what to say. "I don't know if I could-"

"Promise me."

"You're my friend, "I said, and even though I wanted to say it, I couldn't bring myself to confess that she was my only friend now. No, she was more than that - she was my anchor - but even that I knew was not something I could say. It wasn't fair to place that burden on her shoulders.

"And as my friend, you'll promise," she said.

I wanted to protest. A lump was forming in my throat, and hot tears pricked the back of my eyes. I couldn't imagine losing her too. Why couldn't she understand that? My life had disintegrated before my eyes. I had gone to that junkyard to die, and then, out of nowhere, this light appeared, and this presence, so full of pain but so full of compassion too. "I promise," I whispered. But I resolved to do my utmost to make sure that nothing ever happened to her.

There was a sudden spike of danger coming from the left. It was so powerful and so sudden that all conscious thought fled. I lunged forward and squeezed Marissa to me just as I threw up the strongest force shield I could produce. An instant later the dry cleaning shop not twenty metres from us exploded. No - not exploded. My mind had trouble making sense of what I was seeing. It was just gone - swallowed up by a great black void. Everything not bolted down was lifted into the air and hurtled toward that incomprehensible emptiness. Even things that were bolted down like lampposts crumpled and twisted and bent toward it - in some cases the metal shearing apart. The black hole even consumed a nearby Hyundai. I look down and realized we were slowly but inexorably skidding toward it. My force shield was not strong enough. Maybe if I let Marissa go. I gritted my teeth. That was not an option. I dug deeper into myself. I searched for that endless wellspring that had come to me the night I killed Hookwolf.

But before I could find it or need it, or get sucked into the void, it shrank. It did so slowly at first, and then more quickly. But the force was still screaming at me that there was danger. I had a vision of the black hole vanishing, and the singularity within losing cohesion and expanding outward...

I tightened my grip on Marissa and force-pushed us sideways as hard as I could. We went tumbling end over end until we landed with her on top of me behind a concrete barrier. I rolled us over until we presented as narrow a profile as we could manage. My force shield was already up and curved around us. The warning from the force was so intense as to be a physical thing. I knew I wouldn't be able to block what was coming - only deflect it.

The sound of the singularity exploding sent a whump through me that darkened my vision. I sensed the shell of accreted matter radiate outward at relativistic speeds. I sharpened my shield to a razor's edge. The wave that struck was so intense it blotted out all other senses. For a moment, my world was just the molecule-thin force-shield, and the tsunami of force raging against it.

By the time I returned to the present, the dust was settling amidst an eerie and sudden stillness. Behind us, buildings had been damaged as far down as a block.

Marissa was hugging me with a deathgrip. It took a long second of slowly dissipating confusion to realize that she was injured. Something had grazed her arm and torn a long, bloody gash through it, leaving blood to pool freely onto the dirty asphalt.

~~JH~~

"She'll be fine," said the doctor. "Whatever you're doing is helping a great deal. I've given her pain meds, and a blood transfusion, and stitched her up as best I could."

I sat next to Marissa on the hospital bed in Coil's base. She looked peaceful now with the meds coursing through her and the healing that I was giving to her through the force. She was always so tense. It was only now, in these moments were she was made to let down her burdens that I appreciated how much pressure she bore just living.

"Did they say what happened?" I asked.

Only Oliver remained behind. The others were meeting with Coil. I had declined on the basis that I was needed here for her recovery. Truthfully, I just wasn't interested in the details. Not when Marissa needed me.

"They said it was a retaliation against the empire. The ABB has a new cape. Calls herself Bakuda. She's a bomb tinker apparently."

A memory of a bomb threat from some university tickled at the back of my mind. I wondered if Lung collected her directly in response to the loss of Oni Lee. Probably not, I decided, since Oni Lee had only been killed a day ago. Lung didn't seem like the type to move that fast.

"Why'd they hit a dry cleaner?" I asked.

"Apparently the ABB is going after all the known empire fronts. The dry cleaner was used to launder money."

I digested this for a moment. So Coil's gang war was really happening. And I had helped. I had no illusions that it would have gone on if I weren't involved, but it still felt strange to be a part of the Brockton Bay life that my dad had had so much disdain for. My dad... I shied away from that thought and shoved it away into the box where I kept all the pain of my dad's loss.

A whisper of the force had me looking down a second before Marissa opened her eyes.

"Taylor?" she said weakly.

"I'm here," I replied, giving her hand a gentle squeeze.

"What happened?"

""The ABB set off a bomb near to where we were standing," I explained. "I tried to protect you, but..."

She squeezed my hand. "S'okay," she said. "Part of the business." And then, after a moment, she went on, "Do you think Coil'd give us hazard pay?"

"What, the 2 million in your account isn't enough?" asked Trickster lightly. He and Genesis and Ballistic filed into the room.

"2 million?" she asked.

I was startled too. That would've meant that we had run off with fourteen million in cash and drugs from the ABB. No wonder Lung was pissed. I narrowed my eyes. Did Coil turn around and sell those drugs to someone else? How was he paying for our share of the drug money otherwise?

"I guess Taylor and I were the unlucky ones," said Marissa.

"Yeah." Trickster shot me an inscrutable glance, but the force was telling me he was wary and cautious. "I hear you can heal," he went on.

I nodded.

"Is it possible that might extend to Noelle?" he asked. I could tell he didn't believe I could heal Noelle, but whether the others had pressured him to ask, or whether he was hoping I would fail just to use the fact against me later, I didn't know. Still, I wasn't going to back down.

"I can try," I replied, and then, I added, "that's what teammates are for, right?"

"Right," he said.

Marissa looked between us before seeming to decide it wasn't worth the effort. She relaxed and closed her eyes and seemed to drift off again.

"Now," I said, "tell me how I get my hands on this 2 million."

~~JH~~

The feud between the ABB and the empire was short and brutal, but ultimately seemed to do little to dig out either of the gangs. Nevertheless, Coil was pleased, and that was something - though I did wonder whether I should be happy that a supervillain was pleased about anything.

The money was delivered as promised to a bank account which was supposedly set up for my exclusive use. However, I had no doubt that Coil could access it and snatch the money away whenever he so chose. I had honestly thought it would take much longer to acquire resources on this scale, and so I was rapidly coming to face a question I had been studiously avoiding since I accepted that I was a cape. Namely, did I attempt to construct the exotic tinker machines that lurked within the memories of my strange benefactor?

The answer was not simple, and I struggled with it these past few days. However, I knew deep down that whatever ambivalence I felt was ultimately outweighed by the nearly physical sensation of loss the absence of my light sabre caused. If nothing else, I needed to build a light sabre, and it would be the first thing I did with my money.

Of course, building a light sabre was not a simple proposition. Many of the components were made of materials that did not exist here. Durasteel was needed for some of the internal parts at the very least, though quadanium steel would be preferable. The power cell could be charged, but doing so would not go unnoticed. Obtaining the crystals was surprisingly the easy part and would prove more of an existential question - did I want a crystal that was imbued with all my feelings of hate and anger? Or did I want it to reflect my more contemplative, bookish side?

I puzzled over these questions as I wandered through the streets of Brockton Bay. There was a palpable feeling of fear that hung in the air. The fighting between the ABB and the empire had subsided, but I knew it was only a temporary reprieve. Coil was working behind the scenes to keep that fire alive, all the while creeping through the shadows and picking up the pieces as the two gangs tore each other apart. Part of me was horrified, but that was overshadowed by a feeling of satisfaction. Coil's methods were sound and indicated a keen and ruthless mind. It reminded me of my former master... I shook that thought away, recognizing it as a remnant of the other.

There was an old couple picking debris out of their half-scorched lawn. There were bullet holes in the garage door. My power told me that it had been a gang fight that had spilled over, and someone had thrown a homemade pipe bomb that had detonated on the lawn. I felt a faint stirring of pity, but it was muted, as if it belonged to someone else, and I was only feeling it second-hand. Once Coil was done clearing out the gangs, things would get better, I told myself. The destruction and misery that I was seeing was just the side effects of the surgery that was removing the cancer.

It was only when I turned onto the street that I realized I had been unconsciously drifting toward my home. I stopped at the intersection and stared blankly down the way. Could I really go back? If I remembered, the house was mostly paid off. It was mine... what was left of it anyway. I had some vague notion that there should be insurance money to collect, but I had no idea how to go about doing it, and I didn't think I had the energy or the will to actually go through the motions. I started walking again, albeit more slowly.

The houses to either side looked the same as they always did. It was still February, so the moist, cool air still had a bite to it that kept people indoors. Still, one of my neighbours was just getting into her car when she saw me. The street was quiet enough and isolated enough that people who walked down it did not go unnoticed. I sensed her mind fill with recognition. However, instead of approaching, she hurried to get in her car and drive away.

I continued down the street until my house was in view. It was still wrecked, though large canvas flaps had been set up to cover it. Yellow police tape was everywhere. The ground was littered with pieces of debris. Scorched bits of wood and churned up earth and grass were everywhere. I pulled up the police tape and ducked under it. I went inside. The footing would have been treacherous if not for my power, which made it easy to navigate.

The living room was a disaster. Despite the fact that half of it was open to the elements, I could still smell the powerful disinfectants that were used to scour away the blood and bone and brain matter. Other than that, there was no trace of the death and maiming's that had happened here. At least, no trace until I opened myself up to the force. Pain loss sorrow regret anger anguish betrayal resolve - I slammed the door shut on my power. That brief exposure brought me to my knees and left me panting. I wrapped my hands around my head as though I could somehow squeeze the memories from my mind. Oh God, I thought. This was a mistake.

Minutes past as I struggled to recover from the immense deluge of misery that had poured into me from the force. It felt as though there was a tug of war going on inside my head. My dark half wanted to pull me under into that vast sea of hate. It wanted me to vent my fury at everyone – the bitches, the Protectorate, Brockton Bay – even the world. I could burn it all down; incinerate everything right down to the bedrock. A base delta zero on the whole planet. The other half felt like the old me – the one that dreamed of being like Alexandria. She wanted me to stand firm… to endure this pain and somehow hold it all in and turn it to helping others – to becoming the heroes that I spent my life believing in.

"I miss you, dad," I said into the silent air. "I'm sorry." I was sorry for so many things, I didn't even know where to begin. "I'm sorry we never talked. I'm sorry I didn't tell you what was happening at Winslow... sorry I didn't trust you to tell you that Emma had betrayed me... If I had, maybe you'd still be alive now."

Whatever resentment for my dad's neglect which had festered during his life had burned away in that moment when he threw himself in front of Hookwolf. Before then, I had doubted deep down if he'd loved me, or if maybe, somewhere in his own heart he had blamed me for Mom's death. That sliver of doubt had lodged itself inside of me. It had festered all those years, poisoning our relationship. But afterward, now that he was dead, all that fear that I had carried with me felt so pointless.

"When you stopped talking to me - when we stopped doing things together - it felt like you blamed me. It felt like I was right to hate myself." I swallowed the lump in my throat and went on, "I got to hating myself so much it felt like it became a part of me. When Emma turned on me, it felt... natural. Of course she would hate me too. And when she started to hurt me, I wondered at least a little bit like maybe I deserved it." I shook my head. "I'm not saying this right. I know you loved me. I just - I was so screwed up I couldn't see it."

Those last moments in the house looped like a silent film reel on repeat. What must he have been thinking to have all those parahumans storming in, to have me so near to Hookwolf - to have Hookwolf bearing down upon me intent on killing me, to leap in his way knowing it would kill him - thinking he was giving up his life to give me just a few more seconds... just a sliver of a chance to live.

Boots crunched on the gravel outside. So the empire had come, I thought. No doubt they'd staked out the place in case I came back. I gathered the force to me. Strangely though, there was no whispered warning of danger.

The tarp was peeled back to reveal a massive figure in silver and gun-metal grey armor. My mind seemed to seize up at the realization that I was facing a superhero. Of course it would be the Protectorate. No, wait – not the Protectorate – one of the wards. The Protectorate only had one tinker, and he had blue armor. This looked similar, but was different enough, and I remembered that the wards had one or two tinkers on the team. I berated myself for not having realized that they would have been the ones to stake out the place. A memory wormed its way up to the surface. They had been there. The PRT. Those useless vermin had let my – I shoved those thoughts aside. They couldn't have known Hookwolf would be there. And yet still, the anger inside me only seemed to swell and swell, uncaring about the more subtle nuances of fault and just wanting a target for its fury.

The cape seemed to recognize that something was wrong, because he paused at the entrance – assuming that the tarp could be called an entrance at all. "Miss – Zephyr," he began.

"Yes?" My anger must have bled through in my voice, because he seemed to gather himself for the conversation ahead.

His mind settled on a path of approach before he continued, "My name is Gallant. I was hoping that we could talk."

There was a moment of confusion before the puzzle pieces in my head arranged themselves into a coherent picture. They didn't know I'd joined a villain team. They wanted to recruit me, or at least stop me from joining the ever-growing list of villains that were crowding Brockton Bay. Something about the idea of being tapped to be a superhero after I'd already become a villain made me uncomfortable. It was as if I thought that they should have been able to discern from a glance that I was their enemy.

"Would it be all right if we relocated to somewhere a little more private?"

The only responses that came to mind were angry or bitter ones. I wasn't certain I could say anything without lacing my tone with venom. Where were the heroes when I really needed them? I knew deep down that it wasn't fair to blame them. They couldn't have known, and there'd been PRT officers in the house already that night. But I wasn't in a mind to be fair. It felt like it was too late for me to be a hero. It was as if that life was part of a by-gone age -a part of my history that I could not go back to.

"You shouldn't have come," I said finally. "Isn't there some sort of rule about invading a cape's home?"

Strange, I thought. He was hard to read in the force. Probably some sort of tinker bullshit.

"This was the only way we could realistically make contact with you," he said, "and given what happened…."

The reference to the night of my dad's death should have incited my ire, but strangely, Gallant's presence seemed to focus my attention on the more practical problem of surviving this encounter. Now that I had some time to investigate, I could tell there were several more people in the area. Some of them had that same bright, burning feeling that I associated with parahuman force signatures. I was also pretty sure that Gallant was in radio contact with someone else. No doubt all his answers – perhaps even his body language – was somehow being staged by thinkers to maximize their effect.

"If I don't agree to come with you," I asked slowly, "will I have to fight my way out of here?"

There was a noticeable delay in his response as he received instructions. I spent the time puzzling over why they sent Gallant in to talk to me. His name suggested something about his cape persona. Maybe he was regarded as being charming. The idea that he could somehow smooth-talk me or charm me into compliance had more the feel of a master or stranger power. Perhaps his tinker gear emulated master powers? I made a point of shielding my mind. I didn't know if it would protect me, but it couldn't hurt. Besides, there had to be some sort of psychic component to his power, since he was able to muddle his own aura to rebuff my probes.

"No," he said. "You haven't done anything wrong. We were just hoping to speak to you. There are a lot of matters that need to be dealt with both practical and personal."

"Practical?" I asked before it hit me. The funeral… the remains…. "I don't want anything to do with any of that." Dad was gone. Part of me yearned for closure, but I knew that I wouldn't find it staring at a coffin. It hadn't helped with my mom's death. It sure as hell wasn't going to help with my dad's.

"I know you're angry," he said. "Zephyr – Taylor – we've all lived with that fear that a villain will come to our homes and attack our loved ones. Every single one of us feels for what's happened to you. Give us a chance to help you. That's all I ask."

You can't help me, were the words on the tip of my tongue, but was that true? The Travelers had picked me up, and I was grateful, but what did I really owe them? Or Coil? I thought of the people I'd murdered in cold blood at the ABB warehouse. No, I thought. I'd crossed a line. And even if I didn't feel I owed the Travelers much… I owed them more than the Protectorate. I wasn't going to betray them. They were my team now. For better or worse.

My thoughts must have somehow been transmitted to him, because I felt his resignation.

"What will you do now?" he asked.

It was possible the Travelers' presence in the Bay was supposed to be a secret. It was also possible that me joining their team was also supposed to be a secret. I wish I'd asked someone these things before ending up in this conversation. Regardless, I couldn't be certain they would let me go so easily if I announced myself as a villain.

"I'm staying with friends," I said.

He seemed to accept this answer at face value. "If you need anything, please don't hesitate to look me up. I'm on PHO. You can also call." A business card neatly ejected from a slot in his wrist and into his hand. I summoned it to me. "They really make you carry around business cards?" I asked. It was a nice card. I'd seen enough of them through my dad's work to know an expensive one from a cheap one.

"They try to have us prepared for everything," he said, "but the cards are optional. I only brought them because I knew I was meeting you. I thought it might be useful."

That last statement was perhaps the only one in the whole conversation that hadn't been scripted. It made me a little sad.

Gallant made a show of stepping aside and raising one hand as if to show me the way. It was absurdly chivalrous under the circumstances. I wondered if all the superheroes were expected to have over-the-top cheesy acting as part of their personas. Nevertheless, I took the offered cue and walked past him. I was on high alert as I stepped next to him in case he or the others in the area tried anything. I didn't fail to notice that I would have to walk right by him at the exact point where snipers would have a clear line of sight. Nothing happened though except that I stopped and looked up at his impassive face. Of the features that I could see, he looked to be attractive. He probably had a smile that would melt a girl's heart.

I turned back and stared into the living room. More than ever, I felt the aching loss of the life I had had. It hadn't been a happy life, and I'd often wished it was different, but not like this. Never like this.

I made a silent prayer to my dad. May he be one with the force, and may he find the peace in death that was denied him in life.

~~JH~~

"You let her go," said Piggot neutrally. There was no censure in either her voice or expression, but Dean felt the disgust nevertheless.

Dean, Armsmaster, and Miss Militia were standing at attention before the Bay's cantankerous PRT Director.

"It was a delicate situation," said Armsmaster. "And I made the call to preserve lives. A ward was in the AO, and the target cape was very dangerous at short-range."

"I hope putting a ward in the line of fire was worth it then." Piggot's gaze sharpened as she turned to Dean. "What did you glean from her?"

"More and less than expected," said Dean. "She has some type of thinker power that interferes with mine."

"Explain."

The problem was that he wasn't entirely sure he could explain. "Her emotions were muffled," he began slowly. "People are either in my range or they're not, as you know. It almost felt as though she was only partway visible. And it was almost like the part that was invisible was bigger and more massive than anything I'd ever sensed before. I'd liken it to a giant crowd of people clustered together only that doesn't fully describe it. Whatever it was felt deeper. It's like comparing a swimming pool to an ocean."

"You're talking about the invisible part though," said Armsmaster. "How can you know what the invisible part is like if you cant sense it?"

"You can know the size of a circle by a single arc. Now imagine if you only had an arc, but you realize that the curve doesn't form a circle but a parabola. You would still only be able to see a small part of the function curve, but you would know that the area contained within the curve is infinitely large."

A pregnant silence filled the room after Dean's explanation.

"And you think that you can accurately gauge the scale of this… invisible part?" asked Piggot, "even though you've never experienced a comparable phenomenon before?"

He took a deep breath and let the implied accusation go. "I cannot be certain, Director. I can only relay the impression that I have."

"Well it sounds to me like perhaps you've been mastered." Piggot's casual tone belied her words. "You made assumptions about Zephyr's master powers when planning this op, and I am not satisfied that your assumptions are accurate. I don't care if Gallant's power interferes with other thinker-masters, and I don't care if you put some tinker doohickey into his helmet to repel psychic attack. Gallant is remanded to base until our m/s team is satisfied that he's clear." She gestured to two PRT troopers to escort Dean away.

He tried not to think that Piggot was just throwing him in m/s containment to be nasty, but it was hard. Still, he bore it as best he could and, by his name sake, gallantly nodded and let himself be led from the office.

~~JH~~

Once he was gone, Piggot turned to Armsmaster. "Well?"

"We've analyzed the recording of the conversation. There is no unusual activity in sound waves outside the range of human perception," began Armsmaster curtly. "Similarly, there is no discernible electromagnetic radiation being transmitted from Zephyr to Gallant from the x-ray to radio wave spectrum. There was some activity in subspace. However, it barely registered. Either Zephyr was not using her power, which is unlikely, or her power operates outside the known bands for power usage."

Why unlikely?" prodded Miss Militia.

"There are subtle visual cues when Zephyr uses her power. Her head tilts, and her gaze unfocuses ever so slightly. We have measured it against baselines for comparable parahuman powers, and there is a 93% match that she is using her thinker power."

"Anything else? Coded messages in her conversation that we are unaware of?"

"She was honest if a little cryptic," continued Armsmaster. "However, tone and inflection suggested that she was at least partly elsewhere.." He then hurried to add, "Not elsewhere as Gallant has described. Rather, her demeanor suggests some form of psychological disability. Likely PTSD with anxiety, depression and adjustment disorders."

"And Gallant's report regarding her anger management issues?" Piggot pressed.

"Corroborated," said Armsmaster reluctantly.

"So she's unstable," finished Piggot grimly. "And you let her go."

"It took time to analyze the data-"

"Is she going to become a villain?" cut in Piggot. She was not even remotely interested in Armsmaster's rationalization.

He did not answer for several seconds. "We believe she likely already is. Judging by how she phrased her responses and the tone used, and her refusal to even consider relocating-"

"Independent?" Armsmaster was no doubt excellent as far as heroes went, but he talked too fucking much.

"She has a team."

"Now hold on," said Miss Militia. "We're assuming a lot. Just because she said she's staying with friends doesn't mean that she's joined a supervillain team."

"Don't be naïve," said Piggot. "You saw her clothes. She didn't take that with her when she ran a week ago. Does she look like she's been living on the street to you? New cape. Traumatized and magically stays off the radar for an entire week, showing up alone at her old place with zero interest in even talking about the wards? She's not only got a team, she's got a backer. Someone with financial clout to take care of her needs. Now who could that be? Not ABB and not the empire. That's for sure."

"Undersiders or Coil," SAID Armsmaster thoughtfully.

"Any idea which?" said Piggot. It went without saying that Circus and Trainwreck were not even on the table as possibilities.

"Faultline?" asked Miss Militia.

"They were not in Brockton Bay at the time," said Piggot flatly.

"It could be worse," said Miss Militia. "Neither the Undersiders nor Coil are considered dangerous or high profile."

"True." Piggot glanced out her window at the Brockton Bay skyline. It was a beautiful sight. Anyone who didn't know much about Brockton Bay might have inferred that the Bay was a nice place to live. "There's not much we can do about it now, I suppose. We will give Zephyr the benefit of the doubt until we have proof that she is a villain with the caveat that the wards are not to engage her. She has proven that she will kill in combat even when her own life is not in danger."

"Hookwolf," began Miss Militia delicately.

"That didn't stop her from throwing a PRT officer into a brick fireplace. Or throwing Cricket's defenceless body into Hookwolf. Or throwing Victor's car while he and the rest of his team were trying to flee. Reasons or not, she's capable of extreme violence. The wards are not to engage." Except where public relations necessitated it, it went without saying. "Dismissed."

~~JH~~

Days had passed since I met with Gallant. I still didn't know how to feel about it. He had been nice to me, all my senses told me he was genuine. Still, there was no telling what the other wards were like. I have a team, I scolded myself. I shouldn't be considering jumping ship. And yet... to be a hero...

I made my way to the workout room. Coil's base really was massive, and had pretty much every amenity short of a swimming pool. Morley was just limbering up. He held a sword in each hand and gave them each experimental swings.

"I heard you're planning to build yourself some sort of tinker sword," he said. "I thought we'd try mixing it up a bit and get you used to sword fighting."

I paused and stared at him. "You know how to use a sword too?"

"Three different styles," he confirmed. "I'm no master, but I'm competent. The boss did hire me to be the resident weapons expert. Now the first thing about swords you need to know is..."

I waited impatiently for him to finish so he could hand me the blade. It had good heft and balance, and the edge was very keen. The surface was a flat dark grey. I had pictured something shiny, but Morley was already explaining that this was meant to kill, not to prance around with, and making it bright and shiny would be counterproductive. Of course, my light sabre ultimately would be a giant beacon - I wondered if I could get one that was pure black. My memories told me it was possible, but instinctively it didn't feel right.

"We won't be practising with those," he said. "I'm sure you can keep from skewering me, but really, it's just good practise to use a practice sword."

"So this is-?"

"A gift," he said. "I'll get you a scabbard for next time. I didn't know if you would prefer one across the back or at the hip."

"The hip," I said immediately.

"Be sure to practice with it so you get used to the feel."

I nodded. "Okay."

And with that, he set me to exercises designed to build my upper body strength.

~~JH~~

"How is she doing?" asked Coil. A recording of Taylor's earlier sparring session was being replayed on the monitor.

Morley stood to attention across from Coil. "She's progressing at an extraordinary rate. Everything she learns she retains with crystal clarity. Even showing her once, and she gets the hang of it. It's like she's a natural." He paused. "No, not natural... unnatural. It's clearly part of her power set. She's learned in a month what I would teach a dedicated student in a year."

Coil nodded. "Does she use her powers in practice?"

"Uncertain," replied Morley. "Her moves are no faster than a human's, but she seems to be able to hit hard and true. She was nailing bullseyes after fifteen minutes of practice."

Coil considered. Zephyr was proving to be both a blessing and a curse. "And this laser sword she's been asking about?"

"She wants to know if there's a tinker who specializes in weapons manufacturing," said Morley. "She also asked about the power source for the tinker rifles. Thinks she can build herself some sort of - she calls it a light sabre."

"Were you able to extract any sort of idea about the schematics for this... light sabre?"

"It apparently requires materials that do not currently exist. The power source can apparently power a small city but will fit into the hilt. It requires a gem of some kind. She said she was debating between various kinds, but that she would need a forge to work the crystal before it could be set in the hilt."

"Is it your impression that she is some sort of tinker?"

Morley frowned. "I am no expert, but it sounds as though she is a half-tinker. She has some idea of what she wants, but her inability to complete it herself is odd."

That was Coil's thought as well. "Have Grant arrange a meeting with the Toybox representative. Let's see where this goes. Keep an eye on whatever she builds and report back to me."

Morley nodded and left.

Coil sat back in his chair. A blessing and a curse. Since that first day, he had been very careful about having her in his presence. He always made sure that he had a timeline where he didn't see her. It was proving to be fruitful. She was reading him somehow - different from Tattletale but no less impressive. She was a one-cape team. There was no single power of hers that was truly extraordinary – at least not in the way that, say, Alexandria's brute rating was extraordinary. But when all her powers were put together, she could go to town on her enemies. He suspected he hadn't seen all her abilities yet. The Travelers hadn't spoken about it, but something had happened during the raid on Lung's drug den. He had managed to tease out a partial confession from Sundancer during a timeline that he dropped seconds before she managed to incinerate the entire base.

"We'll see," he thought as his gaze fell on Taylor's image which was now frozen on the monitor.

~~JH~~

Kaiser stared into the smoky, amber Scotch that he held in his hand. the loss of his capes still hurt. Even though Purity had chosen to return with her gang, it still didn't erase the stain of their inglorious defeat. Unfortunately, Zephyr had gone to ground, and no one knew where she was. His backers overseas were also concerned. They hadn't liked his growing power base - the fact he was building a separate empire that was loyal specifically to him and not to the cause. Now they were using this as an excuse to send capes over to watch and inspect and to help in capturing her.

Gesellschaft was a difficult organization to deal with at the best of times. They had methods that, while Kaiser didn't disapprove of exactly, could appreciate the problems that would result. It was a level of ruthlessness that even he balked at. Inducing triggers... It did mean that they had capes to burn; as evidenced by the ten capes they were sending to Brockton Bay to dispose of Zephyr. And to, however tacitly, remind Kaiser that it would always remain in his interest to make decisions that ultimately benefitted them.

The door opened and Krieg stepped in. "They've landed," he said without preamble. "Their associates back home have made arrangements for their residences. However, their leader, Duro, would like to come here to meet with you."

Kaiser nodded. "Understandable."

Krieg hesitated. "Would you like me to be present for the meeting."

Kaiser debated. He had been ambivalent about this point, but decided that, ultimately, it was better to have Krieg present than not. "I will expect you to function as a liaison with Duro and his team," said Kaiser. "In that regard, it will save time and energy if you remain present for all strategy sessions with him."

Krieg nodded. "Excellent, Kaiser. I will welcome Duro upon his arrival and escort him to your office."

"Yes, thank you."

Krieg left as quietly as he came in. Not a surprise. His power let him do things like that.

Twenty minutes later, the door was opening once more. Kaiser stood and greeted the new cape, who presented himself in full cape regalia. Duro was a striker of some repute. He could build armor and swords that blunted and enhanced inertial forces. He wore large flexible gauntlets. Kaiser, on the other hand, remained in his civilian guise. This was a test of sorts. While Duro didn't officially know Kaiser's identity, Gesellschaft surely did. Presenting himself in his civilian identity demonstrated a lack of concern, but also was a slight sleight, as if Duro didn't warrant the effort. However, before Kaiser's bare hand could be engulfed in Duro's massive gauntlet, metal sprouted from Kaiser's cuff and intertwined itself in an intricate pattern around his hand, thus protecting him an instant before the handshake was made. Another sleight, even more subtle, as it suggested both a lack of trust that Duro would not crush his hand, and also a demonstration of his power, and its versatility.

Kaiser's power, of course, was a powerful one when it came to combat. He could sprout metal from any physical object, which meant that, at a glance, he could encase an adversary in steel - assuming they weren't naked. Unless they were a brute, they would be rendered helpless instantly, and even brutes would have difficulty getting to him through the successive layers of steel that would get in their way. There was a limit to how much steel he could generate per second in terms of raw mass, but the complexity of the structures had no upper limit. This meant he could create labyrinthine, or otherwise complex, structures on a whim. And the amount of steel he could generate per second was nothing to sneer at - about three cubic metres worth. Enough that, as a rogue, he could give steel manufacturers a run for their money.

"It is a pleasure to meet you," said Duro in a heavy German accent.

If they all have heavy German accents, Kaiser thought, it will be a problem moving around without attracting attention. "Likewise, Captain," Kaiser said.

"We will find this little girl and express to her the depth of her error in challenging our noble cause."

"I am pleased that the fatherland expresses such commitment to our goal here in the Americas."

"the Americas are important," said Duro. "for many reasons."

"Let us get to business then," said Kaiser. "Please have a seat. We do not know where the girl is located. Likely she has found shelter with a villain team here in Brockton Bay. It cannot be Faultline's Crew, as they were out of the bay during the relevant time period. I have checked with Accord in Boston, but he has no knowledge of her entry into his domain. He runs a very tight ship, and I trust him not to overlook a mistake of this magnitude."

Duro remained silent.

"that leaves either the Undersiders," said Kaiser, "or Coil. There are a few independent villains as well. None of these groups have been active enough for me to gauge whether they have a new member."

"It is no matter that you are unable to locate her," said Duro finally. "Gesellschaft knows which team this girl has joined."

Kaiser paused, and there was a moment wherein the silence hung heavy in the air.

"I see."

"Our thinkers deduced the information from the scant clues available," said Duro. There was no mistaking the smugness in his tone. Kaiser's anger smoldered, but he made sure not to let any of it show. He hated these power plays with Gesellschaft mostly because he always lost.

"Which team then?" asked Kaiser. It took a monumental effort to keep from expressing his displeasure at the fact that Duro was making him ask.

"The Travelers," replied Duro. "It only remains to be seen when they will next appear, and to be ready when they do. Of course, that is also no matter, for we have brought three thinkers who, when their powers are combined, can track our prey when she is out in the open."

Kaiser raised a hand. "I appreciate the assistance being granted to us by Gesellschaft. However, presently, we view this is an internal matter. Your aid in locating the girl is welcome. However, I and my capes will be the ones to address her impudence."

Duro smiled thinly. "Of course, Kaiser. We do not seek to interfere with your… empire. We will provide a support role only."

"Thank you," came Kaiser's diffident reply.

Duro excused himself with Krieg watching tensely at the side. Kaiser's gaze lingered on the door where his new ally left. "Work with Duro to locate Zephyr. Crusader is to be in charge of the attack. He may use whichever capes he feels appropriate, but will first submit his plan to me for final review before execution."

"Understood." Krieg took his leave.

Kaiser would have preferred to let Gesellschaft throw their capes at the girl. But if they succeeded, then he would owe them. Owing Gesellschaft – that way lay madness. No, he thought, he would have to deal with this problem internally…. Failure simply wasn't an option.

A/N: Well there you have it. Arc 2 down, and an indeterminate number left to go. No light sabre yet, but it is definitely on the mantle. As in the summary, this is a Taylor/Marissa fic. I struggled with how to connect the two. I debated having Coil recruit Taylor independently, but decided that having her join the Travelers straight-up was just going to move the plot along more quickly. My apologies if people feel it is out-of-character. On a related note, I don't have a beta but would like one. If anyone is interested in signing up, let me know. The rough draft of the story is already done, so there won't be too much deviation, but all ideas and suggestions are welcome.


	3. Chapter 3

Arc 3: There is Peace

A/N: Hello all and welcome to Arc 3. Before getting started I'd like to give credit to Edale for acting as a beta for this story.

The office was small and spartan. The person I was interviewing was lean and wiry and had a focused, intent gaze. Two burly security guards were behind him standing motionless. Even stranger, was that I couldn't feel any of them. It was only after several seconds of study that I realized there was an impossibly thin barrier that separated us.

The man, Mr. Stone, smiled as he saw the realization in my expression. "Toybox knows how to protect its own, Zephyr," he said. "There is a multi-dimensional, multi-temporal plane which bisects this room. A series of them, in fact, ensure that no conventional weapon can penetrate the walls, floor or ceiling to get to me and my security." He gestured at the two burly guards. "They're mostly for show. After all, the hindbrain is still a thing. Now, shall we get down to business?"

I nodded. The demonstration of power was meant to impress, and it was working. If any group in the world had the power to build the components to my lightsaber, it was Toybox. Of course, I had to spend half a million just arranging this meeting, so it remained to be seen whether I would get what I want, even if they could produce it. I pulled a folder from my bag and was about to pass it over when the man shook his head.

"You will feel no resistance as the paper passes through the barrier, but it will be lost forever once it does."

"I understand." Strangely, the other's memories seemed to contain some familiarity with a similar technology. "I need a series of component parts built," I explained. "All the information I know on the subject is contained within. The tinker or tinkers may have to fill in the gaps with their own abilities."

"Hold up each page one at a time please," said the man. I did so and he took photographs of each page. Once he was done, he flipped through the pages on a video screen. "Hmm," he said. "This is very unusual. I've seen a lot of odd requests in my time, Zephyr, and this is definitely in the top ten." He stopped at the final drawing, which was of a completed lightsaber and frowned. "All this for a hard light construct?" he asked.

"Can you build it?" I pressed.

He flipped through the schematics and came to the chemical formulas for some of the materials used in the components. He tapped the screen. "This is going to be very expensive. We can probably construct an analog to this device for much cheaper by using different principles to reach the same result."

"It must be exactly to my specifications. There can be no shortcuts." I waited patiently as he considered.

"Ten million," he said finally. "Fifteen, if you would like two of them."

"If you can build a device to generate these materials, it will pay for itself in time," I ventured.

The man smiled indulgently. "That is already considered, and is one of the reasons why we are charging you so little. We do not negotiate. Ten million for one such device and fifteen for two."

I took a deep breath. "When do you need the funds by?"

"We require ten percent up-front and the balance on delivery."

"If I am unable to pay?" I asked.

"Everyone pays," replied the man. "It is only the form of payment that varies." In a more conciliatory tone, he went on, "You are young, Zephyr, and a relatively recent trigger. Are you certain you are prepared to engage our services?"

"I am," I said with confidence, and then with hesitation, "When will I need to produce the balance of funds?"

He considered the question before saying, "One month."

"I need to check with my employer," I said finally. "I have other obligations."

"That is understandable," said the man. "However, you will need to pay a further non-refundable retainer in order to secure a second meeting."

I closed my eyes for a moment. They were going to fleece me hand over fist. Then again, Toybox was the premier tinker cartel in the world. Their clients were probably governments and multinational corporations. Not teenage girls, so it made sense to have numbers like these. "Fine," I said. "I will wire 1 million to you as the deposit. I will deliver another 9 million in a month."

"Excellent," he said. He began typing on his hard light keyboard. "Your account is with First National? Account ending in 151623?"

I nodded. I shouldn't have been surprised that they knew that.

"I see you have a little under 1.5 million," he said. "Are you certain you'll be able to make the final payment?"

"I will," I said with more confidence than I felt. I calculated I would have to rob ten banks a week in order to make the payment on time. The man tapped out a few more keystrokes, and I watched on the screen as my bank balance dropped precipitously.

"Won't the bank be suspicious if a million dollars is suddenly missing from my account?" I asked.

The man smiled again, but it wasn't a pleasant smile. "Who do you think our top client is?" And then, after another moment of typing, he went on. "There you have it, Zephyr. One month."

One month, I thought soberly. Better get robbing.

~~JH~~

"One month?" asked Marissa. "You agreed to pay Toybox another 9 million in one month's time?"

"Well, 29 days now," I said.

"Are you crazy?" she nearly screamed. She began pacing the common room again. Genesis was blinking owlishly at them.

"It does seem a little stupid," said Oliver. "I mean, you don't actually have the money."

"I'll get it," I said. "We're supervillains. Stealing 9 million should be easy."

"63 million," said Trickster absently as he continued to work on a crossword puzzle. "You only get your share of any job we pull. In order for you to get 9 million, you need to pull in 63 million. Only fair you share equally with your team, right?"

I grimaced. 9 million was hard enough. 63 million was a nightmare. But it wasn't hopeless. "The empire must have that kind of money," I mumbled.

"Sure, but will Coil let you hit them for much?" asked Ballistic. "He wants them focused on the ABB. And the ABB aren't known for corporate espionage, which is the only way you're going to squeeze them for that much."

That was true. Stealing 63 million wasn't going to happen by hitting drug dens. It would mean getting into their accounts and embezzling money. I was no thinker to be doing that sort of... wasn't I? I had master powers, I could swindle people. But that way also lay madness. If I started using master powers, I would turn the Protectorate against me, and then would come the kill order. I had no illusions that any one of the Triumvirate could stomp me into the ground without even trying.

"I have to talk to Coil," I said, and walked out of the room.

~~JH~~

"What do you mean I can't see him?" I demanded.

The guy that was standing in my way, Fish, crossed his arms. The boss sees you when he wants to see you. You don't see the boss when you want to see the boss. You get me?

"I get you," I said. "But this is important."

"Oh?" asked Fish. "You dyin'?"

"No-"

"The boss dyin'?"

"No-"

"Then it ain't important."

I opened my mouth to protest, but closed it. There was no point. Fish wasn't going to let me through. Any attempt to get around him would only create hostility and put me further from my goal. "Just let him know that I'd like to speak with him."

"I'll do that."

I didn't need the force to know that he wouldn't do any such thing.

~~JH~~

"I don't like her," said Noelle.

"I don't either," replied Francis.

He was sitting outside Noelle's cell door talking to her through the video monitor. He couldn't see her except through the monitor and couldn't feel her or smell her. He could have been anywhere on base and talked to her. Still, he liked coming here to her cell door and just... being near her.

"She's not one of us," Noelle said after a moment. "She looks at me funny."

Francis narrowed his eyes. "How do you mean? How does she look at you?" If she was doing something to Noelle.

"I dunno," replied Noelle a bit sullenly. "When she looks at me, it itches."

"Itches?" Francis' mind raced. Zephyr had powers that were weird even by cape standards. He was sure she deserved a stranger rating in addition to all the other ratings. And that meant it was possible she could transmit her power through video cameras.

"I'll get to the bottom of it," promised Trickster. "But she did say she would try to help you. I personally don't believe she can, but the others want to give her a chance. If she proves to be useless, I'll get rid of her."

"Okay," said Noelle.

"How about we play a game?"

Noelle smiled, and, for a moment, it felt like there would be a light at the end of this long, dark tunnel.

~~JH~~

I stood atop a nondescript warehouse in the middle of the docks. Last night I had meditated on how to get my 9 million. I think I was starting to get the hang of the visions. The ones that had a dream-like quality were of possible futures, and the ones that were dull and muted were of the past. The ones that felt the most immediate and visceral were of the present. Last night, the visions had shown me several futures. One had me abducting a young girl and presenting her to Coil - I didn't like that one. One of the visions had me chasing down the merchants and stealing a briefcase, which presumably contained the money I needed. The briefcase in my vision didn't look like it could hold nine million, but then again, stuffing money into a briefcase wasn't something I had experience in. I had to trust my powers that this would get me to my goal.

That's what brought me to where I now stood. A day of searching had me slowly but surely running down my quarry. Across from me, in the nondescript warehouse, that looked like every other nondescript warehouse in the docks, was the headquarters for the merchants. It was nearly time to act, but I couldn't help but hesitate. I didn't think much of the merchants, but they were still a gang, and I was still about to assault their stronghold. And I was just one cape. I absently touched the hilt of my sword for reassurance.

"All things are possible in the force," I murmured. I let that strange, alien power fill me, drinking it in until it felt I was glowing with eldritch energy. The more I submerged myself in it, the more my doubts and worries seemed to just slip away. Could I live in this state of numb bliss forever?

I leapt off the rooftop and landed lightly in the alley. People were about to round the corner - probably guards. The force was urging me forward, and I obliged. I unlocked the door with my power and slipped inside. Immediately the smell of cigarette smoke, and other toxins, assaulted me. There was loud music somewhere in the building. Next to me, a person - I assume it was supposed to be a guard - sat and gazed vacantly at me. His eyes were glazed over, and his life was fading. He had overdosed. I shook my head in disgust and slipped forward, turning a corner just as the door to the alley opened. I stalked through the corridors and stuck to the shadows. Yes, there was in fact a party taking place here. It wasn't quite what I had expected. Bodies were pressed together from one end of the warehouse to the other, and there were half-naked girls all over the place. Some of them looked like they weren't there by choice. I even recognized a couple from Winslow.

I had no time for them, I decided. Maybe when I was done, the police or PRT could pick them up and do something with them. My goal was to steal cash and anything of high value that could be liquidated easily. I hunkered down in the far back corner and used my power to make myself invisible. It wouldn't fool cameras or someone determined to find me, but it would do for the people here. The last thing I wanted was for someone to see a young girl and try to rope me into their... I didn't quite know what to call this... depravity, maybe? Or worse, someone would notice I wasn't dressed like a party-goer and that I was carrying a sword.

I reached out with the force. The people here were all drunk or stoned, or looking to fuck someone. It disgusted me on so many levels. I had an urge to cut them all down, but had to shove it aside. That wasn't me, and, more importantly, it wasn't why I was here.

There were more focused minds upstairs. Two people were having an argument, but it felt casual - like they'd argued the same thing many times before. I looked around and came to a decision. If there was anything of value here, it would be on the second floor. The security would be more serious up there too, I surmised. I made my way through the crowd, my senses kept to the maximum alertness. It was difficult going though, because I had to shove my way through the dense wall of bodies, which meant I was garnering attention no matter what. It was hard to distinguish between the leering gaze of a sexual predator and the colder, more assessing gaze of a potential enemy.

I crept around the side of the warehouse. There came a point where I passed by the speakers. I had to use the force to muffle the sound lest I went deaf from the wall of obnoxious noise that passed for music here. It was almost as bad as what went on in the lower levels of Coruscant. I shook that thought away. I had to focus.

I was not far from the stairwell now. It was not only guarded by tough and focused men with guns in hand, but the stairwell was also a rickety steel contraption that stood out in the open. I reached out with my senses and sure enough, there were snipers on the second floor, their attention focused on any unauthorized person attempting to climb the stairs. I debated going back to the roof and trying to break in that way, but the force was warning me from that route. There was no telling what sort of tinker bullshit they might have had floating around, so I opted to be cautious. Maybe if I'd had my lightsaber, I could have bulldozed my way through their defences, but I didn't.

I'd known this day was going to come. As much as I shied away from it, I had to use the one power that I dreaded above all others. I reached out and touched the minds of the guards.

This was nothing like the way I had clamped down on Blackwell's and Cricket's minds. Back then it had felt like I was squeezing an orange until it burst in my hand. Now it felt more like I was digging a finger into the flesh as I probed for the seeds that lay within. When I was satisfied I had gotten the two up front, I approached. A quick scan of the second floor told me nothing was amiss.

"You will take me to Skidmark," I said calmly. I projected my voice using the force so that the words seemed to burn their way into the guard's brain.

"I will take you to Skidmark," the one on the left said.

I turned to the other, "You will wait here and guard the stairwell by yourself."

"I will wait here and guard the stairwell by myself," he intoned.

An imperious gesture, and the left escorted me up the stairs. I was hard at work soothing the minds of the people upstairs, but made sure to keep my escort in their way as an added precaution.

By the time we got to the top, it was clear I had overdone the guards up here. One of them was bleeding out of his eye sockets. The other two were unconscious and barely breathing. Shit, I thought.

My escort stopped and stared hard at the comatose and dying guards.

"Lou," he said, his voice slurring as he struggled to speak through the oppressive weight of my mental dominance. "Joey?"

I clamped down harder on his mind. "Go downstairs and return to your post."

The muscles on one side of his face slackened unnaturally. Too late, I thought, as he sagged to the floor. Something must have ruptured in his brain, and now he was having a stroke or an aneurysm. I pinched the bridge of my nose. Clearly I needed to refine this power a little better before using it on people. My thoughts were drawn back to the present by the sensation of a mind sharpening. I looked up into the dark curved lens of a camera. The guard on the other end was reaching over to raise the alarm. Even though I couldn't see him, I knew the moment he locked eyes with mine through the monitor. An instant later, I was crushing his mind to pulp. The hand that was just inches from the silent alarm fell limp as he sagged out of his chair to collapse bonelessly on the floor.

I looked around at the mess of maimed bodies. So much for stealthy, I thought. While I could probably fight my way out of here, I'd hoped to not have to do that. My body count was already too high. Sensing that I was now on the clock, I hurried to the room where my prize lay and slipped inside.

"Heh," said Skidmark as he saw me enter. He was splayed out on a large sofa, his eyes glassy from drugs. "Fresh meat, eh? Mitch must'a sent you up, girl." He turned to me and went on, "Come here girl, and sit on daddy's lap. You a skinny thing, but s'okay. Skiddie likes 'em like that sometimes." He half-grinned, half-leered at me.

I ignored Skidmark and the fact that he thought I was here to serve as some sort of sex doll for his entertainment. The briefcase was hidden in a safe in the wall behind a poster of a half-naked girl. I knew exactly where it was. I could reach out and rip it from the wall with a wave of my hand. And yet, even touching it with the force raised the hairs on the back of my neck. It took me a second to realize that there was some sort of tinker protection around the safe – something so powerful it could kill me if I attempted to brute force my way through it.

"I said come here." A moment later, a force sent me stumbling in his direction. He'd manifested a band of pulsing light at my feet. So distracted was I by the puzzle of the tinker device that I nearly ended up in his lap. He had one hand grabbing my butt before I instinctively brought the full wrath of my power down on his mind. His whole body went taut as my power took hold of every molecule of his being, freezing him in place as securely as if he'd been touched by Clockblocker.

"How do I get into the safe," I said.

Skidmark's only response was to stare vacantly at me. I didn't have time for this. A sense of danger was slowly coalescing around me. If I didn't hurry, this whole place was going to turn into a bloodbath. I didn't want that, and I had a feeling that Coil would probably be unhappy with me too. I pressed down harder on his mind. It felt like I was trying to extract the juice from a mango by slowly massaging it. The process was working, but it was slow going. I reached out with my mind to siphon his memories and knowledge directly. Pieces of information began to trickle in. Skidmark had believed he was an only child, but when he was eight years old, his mother, who was a prostitute, tried to sell him for cash. He only realized later that he'd probably had other siblings who'd been sold before he was old enough to remember them. This knowledge caused him to trigger-

I was driven from his mind violently. It felt as though I'd run head first into a brick wall. What the hell was that? But there was no time to puzzle over the strange barrier in his mind.

I had tried to be careful with Skidmark, but something had gone wrong. His organs were shutting down and his brain was slowly being starved of oxygen. And now the building was being flooded with armed gang members. No doubt someone had discovered the bodies and called in reinforcements.

I needed to get into that safe. I reached down and grabbed his head in my hands, and I peered into his eyes. "How do I get into the safe. Tell me how to get into the safe. I need to get into the safe. Tell me now."

He opened his mouth, but only blood came out.

Fuck.

All thought of stealth was gone. I knifed into his brain and probed for the information, heedless of the damage I was doing. Skidmark reflexively vomited blood, and the remnants of his partially digested chicken sandwich. He then began to gurgle and choke to death on it.

653\. That was the code. Three simple numbers. I mentally stabbed out with the force to input the code into the lock.

My danger sense flared - an image of me unconscious crystallized in my mind's eye - gas - I realized. Bastards were pumping gas into the room.

Fuck. I leapt off Skidmark's twitching body just as three high velocity rounds passed through where I was a moment ago. They were firing right through the wall. I rolled to one side just as more bullets traced my path. I had to shake my head to clear it of the fuzz. Gas was getting to me, and I didn't have time to try to clear it from my system. I held my breath and raised one hand to ward off more bullets. Each one detonated in a spray of shrapnel the moment I tried to deflect them, forcing me to throw up a shield to keep from being shredded.

With a quick prayer to the force that I'd successfully inputted the right code, I ripped the entire safe out from the wall and let it thud heavily between me and my attackers. And not a moment too soon. There came a heavy whump. Something powerful enough to rock the several hundred pound safe had just been fired. I wasn't sure if it was more impressive that Skidmark had that kind of firepower on hand, or if he had a safe strong enough to tank a blow like that. It made me want the contents of that briefcase all the more.

It was time to make my exit. I summoned the briefcase from the now open safe before blowing a hole through the wall behind me. There was another spike of danger in the force, which had me launching myself out of the exit and into the cool open air of the alley beyond. Behind me, another tinker projectile was launched, and I sensed not only the safe, but most of Skidmark's penthouse being obliterated.

I hit the ground with a force shield already up. A dozen more guys had positioned themselves around the alley and were delivering a truly impressive hail of fire. The bullets I could hold off, but they were keeping me pinned so long as I had to protect the briefcase. If only I could have a minute to clear the poison from my system, but the approaching sound of a monstrous engine put paid to that hope.

There was a moment's lull in the fire; probably a couple of them had to reload. I took the break to yank the cover off a nearby manhole and sent it spinning through the air at high speed. Between the darkness and the gunfire and the suddenness of my attack, the manhole cover hit one of my attackers in the gut. He let out a high-pitched, agonized scream. The gunfire renewed in intensity. One of the rounds slipped through my defences and pinged off the briefcase. I nudged the case into the open sewer and let it gently alight on the ground below. Now I just had to follow.

At the far end of the alley, the blinding glare of headlights appeared. The gunfire persisted as the tinker vehicle accelerated toward me. In the instant the vehicle blocked half my attackers, I propelled myself backward until I was overtop the manhole. I let gravity do the rest. There was a sharp pain in my scalp. A few strands of my hair had flown upward by the updraft and got caught in the vehicle's underside.

I landed lightly on the dirty sewer floor, summoned the abused briefcase, and stepped into the shadows. My left leg was stinging. A quick inspection told me that a piece of shrapnel had sliced through the skin. It was bleeding but not seriously. I tore a strip of cloth from my shirt and wrapped my leg up. No sense letting it get infected. For a moment, I leaned against the wall and let waves of healing suffuse me and clear away the last bouts of the gas. There were voices overhead and flashlight beams probed the ground near where I stood. Surely they wouldn't try and chase me down here. There were too many bottlenecks to make that realistic… and yet there was a sense of building anticipation coming off the people above. They were planning something – something that started tickling my danger sense.

I grabbed the briefcase and loped as fast as I could down the tunnel just as a large device hit the sewer floor. I pressed myself against the wall and threw up another force shield as I hugged the briefcase to my chest. The sound of the detonation in the enclosed space popped my eardrums. The light burned my retinas even through my eyelids. There was suddenly no air to breathe save the blistering, scorching remains of carbon dioxide and vaporized steel. The blast went on and on, shooting down the tunnel in both directions.

After an eternity, the fire receded. I opened my eyes and blinked the spots from my vision. My whole body felt like I'd spent the day in the sun. There were wisps of smoke curling up from my bra. My skin was red and blistered in places. Quietly, I limped away, using the force to mask my footfalls. No one came after me. It was morning when I finally reached Coil's base.

~~JH~~

"Coil wants to see you," said Fish.

I nodded as I trudged up to his office. I hadn't even made it to my room before I was summoned. At least I got my meeting.

Fish opened the door for me, and I stepped inside. Coil was there behind his desk, studying me through his mask.

"Have a seat," he said. "You look like you need it."

I sat, not having the energy to muster a response.

"You were busy last night," he said.

"I tried to-"

"I know what you tried to do," he cut in. "Can you see why it's a problem?"

I nodded. "Yeah."

"You interfered with Brockton Bay's cape business," he went on, as if I hadn't acknowledged my mistake. "Which means you interfered with my business."

"I need money," I said. "I tried to speak to you."

"I know you need money," he went on. "I made the arrangements for you to meet with Toybox, remember?"

I closed my eyes.

He gestured to Fish, who lifted a briefcase and set it on the desk. It was massive, and when he opened it, stacks of neatly bundled hundred dollar bills stared at me.

"Nine million dollars," said Coil. "This is what I was working on acquiring for you yesterday."

I stared at the money. My mind wanted to rebel. He hadn't told me he was doing it though. I was about to say that when he stopped me with a chopping gesture of one hand.

"The fact that you did not receive confirmation that I would not help you caused you to jump to the conclusion that I would not help you. You're a smart girl. I know you are. Tell me, what is the problem with that thinking?"

"I don't - you never told me."

"And that led you to conclude that I wouldn't?" he pressed.

I looked away. "I'm sorry."

"No, you're not," he said. "I should kill you for this. Or I should kick you out of this base. Or maybe I should kill one of your teammates - the pretty blonde, perhaps?"

A moment of alarm went through me before I realized he was not actually serious.

"You have a serious trust problem," he continued. "I can understand that given your history. But now, here," he gestured at the room, "You are part of a team. You are part of a hierarchy. You need to start trusting that others have your back."

I swallowed. I hadn't really thought about it like that. It had felt right and natural to go out on my own. I thought of the way Trickster and the others treated me, and I thought of the way I behaved. It was no wonder Trickster didn't like me. I refused to suborn myself to his will... but he was the leader... Of course he expected me to follow orders without question.

"I'm sorry," I said again.

"I think you might actually mean it this time."

"And the money?" I asked.

"I will transfer the money to Toybox today." Coil studied me a moment longer. "You know there has to be some form of punishment, don't you?"

I thought about that for a second - tried to put myself in his shoes. Finally, I said, "Yeah."

He pulled a folder out from a drawer in his desk. He flipped open the first page. There was a photograph of a little girl. She had blonde hair and soft hazel eyes. My thoughts came to a screeching halt as I saw the picture. This was the girl in my vision - the one I had abducted for Coil.

"This here is Dinah Alcott," he said. "She is a parahuman. A precog, to be precise."

I stared at the picture. "You want me to abduct her?"

"Yes," he said. "Dinah's uncle is the mayor, which means she is not only a valuable target both for supervillains, but also as a tool for ensuring cooperation from the politicians in Brockton Bay. Given the recent upset in the Brockton cape scene, both the ABB and the empire are interested in recruiting and filling out their ranks. A powerful precog will be irresistible in giving either gang a leg up against the other and any future challengers. Make no mistake. She will be abducted and pressed to work for a gang. It is only a question of which one."

"Can't we... recruit her in a less forcible manner?" I asked.

Coil smiled thinly. "I do not think you appreciate what it means to try to recruit a precog. No matter. I will permit you to try. I do prefer for capes to work for me willingly; even if it is only a pretense. I encourage you to be persuasive. I will require you to bring her to me regardless. This is the price of your lightsaber."

Coil didn't know about the briefcase or the strange papers that were contained within, and the even stranger canister – the one that made the force twist in ways I had never felt before. I had interpreted the visions to mean that I could either obtain the canister or abduct the girl – that either would net me the money I needed to obtain my lightsaber. But now, Coil was telling me in no uncertain terms that he'd already procured the money for the lightsaber. The girl… I suddenly felt ill. I hadn't understood the visions, and it was only now becoming clear to me. The canister – the girl was the price for the canister. And the force… it wanted me to keep the canister… to sacrifice the girl. For the first time, I felt almost betrayed by my power.

Could I really abduct an innocent girl? Could I do what the empire, in essence, wanted to do to me?

He seemed to sense my thoughts as he said, "I suggest you consider which gang you believe would be best suited to acquiring Ms. Alcott. I can assure you that we will treat her better than either the ABB or the Empire. Moreover, we will employ her talents to objectives that will ultimately be much more beneficial to Brockton Bay than either of our competitors."

I closed my eyes. Visions of events stretching towards infinity unfurled like a hideous fractal from the choices that were laid before me. Finally, I said in a whisper, "Okay."

"Excellent." He handed over the dossier. "Learn what you can of the girl. She is your responsibility. You must not fail to bring her in. You have four weeks to complete the task. And above all, no one must trace the abduction to you, and, by extension, me."

Reluctantly, I took the file, even though it felt like I was selling my soul.

~~JH~~

"I was thinking we could go out," said Marissa. Outwardly, she was calm, but her force signature roiled with anxiety.

We were sitting on the sofa. A cape sitcom was playing in the background. Everyone but Trickster had gone to bed. He was down with Noelle.

"Of course we can go out," I said absently. Ever since my conversation with Coil, I had been consumed by the task that had been set for me – acquiring Dinah Alcott. I didn't know why, but somehow, the force was urging me down this road. The more I meditated on it, the more it felt like there was something on the horizon; something so vast and so powerful that I could not encompass its fullness in my mind – not even with the force. And whatever it was, it was tied up with Dinah and me and Coil – all of us stretching out into the future in a dance whose moves I could only glimpse at.

"Taylor, I like you," she said finally. Her force signature seemed to climax in some strange way with the admission before flattening out to a more normal level. For the first time in the conversation, the strangeness of Marissa's behaviour drew me from my own thoughts. She was compulsively picking at a loose thread on a doily. Her cheeks were flushed, and she was looking down as if embarrassed.

I stared at her, bewildered. "I like you too," I said automatically. But that's not what she means, stupid, my mind supplied. She "likes you" likes you.

There was a moment of expectant silence. Slowly, Marissa's uncertainty seemed to expand into the space between us. Did I like her? She was the first person I met after my dad's death. She'd been kind to me, and she'd given me a place on her team. But more than that, I felt safe and comfortable with her, and there was no denying she was beautiful.

"This was a mistake," Marissa said. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said anything."

"No, it's okay," I said again in that automatic way that didn't really mean anything. I was still trying to process. No one had ever said they liked me before. The closest person who'd ever expressed even an iota of interest was Greg Veder, and that was just ew.

"I..." I didn't know what to say, but I had to say something. The force was silent, and I couldn't help but think it was rather convenient of it. I swallowed. "I like you too," I said quietly.

She nodded slowly, and her uncertainty seemed to transform like leaves in autumn into something more contemplative. "Maybe we could try going out sometime?"

Going out… on a date – that should have been the inevitable next step, and yet I hesitated. Could I really try getting close to someone again? To feel that intensity of emotion that had nearly destroyed me the last time? That night with my dad and Hookwolf – those moments afterward – it had felt like a yawning chasm had opened up before me. It had felt like falling, and when I hit rock bottom, everyone around me had been maimed or murdered. I had been afraid ever since. And if there were anything in this world that could risk causing me to fall again, it would be to love once more.

I must have spent too long in my own head, because Marissa asked in a concerned voice, "Taylor?" She searched my expression.

"I'm afraid," I said finally. It was difficult to say that aloud. Even having done so I regretted it immediately. Somewhere over the past year I had learned not to show weakness. To do so now was painful, and yet I didn't want to be the kind of person that would lie to the one important person left in my life. "After my dad… I'm afraid of getting too close." I looked up at her. Our gazes locked, and, somehow, the open compassion in her eyes gave me strength to continue. "You're beautiful, and you saved me when I needed it. I honestly don't know what I would have done if you hadn't shown up. And ever since, you've been like a lifeline and an anchor all rolled into one. I don't know what I would do if I lost you, and it scares me. And if we grew closer still…." A vision of that luminous red blade of death filled my vision, and the temple children crying and screaming and dying… I reflexively shoved those memories away.

"I feel that way about you," said Marissa. "You're strong - stronger than anyone I know. You're a supervillain, but you're not really. You wouldn't actually injure a hero, would you?"

A month ago the answer would have been obvious, but I had felt a depth of hatred within myself that I hadn't known existed before. "No," I said, shoving down any discomfort at the possible lie.

"Despite everything, there's a core of goodness in you," Marissa continued. She looked down at her hands. "I feel like I lost my way somewhere. When I look back at the things that I've done, it feels like I'm looking at a stranger. When did killing become okay?"

I nodded. "I know. I'm a killer. And I think… I think I'm going to keep being a killer."

"I don't think one ever stops being that."

Those words raised the hairs on the back of my neck, as they were echoed by a ghost from the other's past.

"We'll take it one step at a time, yeah?" She leaned over and gently took my hand in hers. I tugged her along until she was sitting next to me.

"So you want to like, go for a movie?" I asked.

"A movie sounds nice."

"You know my identity is public knowledge - including my picture. There's a chance we could get attacked."

"I thought about that," she said. "I think we can do a bit of make-up and design to give you a different look."

"A different look?" I asked.

"Yeah, like, right now, you're all dark and broody," she explained. "We could make you a little more cheery looking, and then people won't even recognize you."

"You think I'm dark and broody?" I asked, stunned. I wasn't dark and broody.

"Uh, yeah, a little bit," she said. "I mean, it's not a bad thing."

"I'm not dark and broody."

"I didn't mean – never mind. I can see I'm only going to dig myself a hole if I keep talking."

"There's a technique I can use to obscure my presence," I said finally. "It won't hide me from a determined pursuer, and I'm not sure about video cameras, but it'll spoof most people's senses."

"Not mine, I hope."

I thought about it. "No, not yours. You'd be like one of those determined pursuers."

"Hmph,," she said, but her eyes were sparkling. "Determined pursuer, am I? You must think very highly of yourself."

I smiled despite my somber mood - I was still not dark and broody though. I reached one hand down and began tickling her. She squealed and twisted to try to get out of my grasp.

"Oh no you don't," I said, getting my other hand onto her flat stomach. "I've got you."

"No, please!" she cried, squirming as I slowly crawled on top of her.

"What the hell?" came a loud voice.

We leapt away from one another so fast we may as well have teleported. Trickster was staring narrow-eyed at us from the doorway.

"Sorry," said Marissa. "Just a bit of rough-housing."

"Rough-housing," he repeated skeptically. "Well cut it out, it's late." He stalked off down the hall to his room.

"Who pissed in his corn flakes," I muttered.

"You should be nicer," Marissa said. "He's our leader, and he's had to make some really tough decisions."

I was about to make a retort, but hesitated. Coil's admonition swam up from my memory. Marissa was right. I had to show Trickster respect. "Fine," I said. "I'll apologize in the morning."

She relaxed and scooted next to me once more. "So," she said brightly. "What movie do you want to see?"

"No chick flicks," I said. "But no action either. Maybe a romcom?"

"That's practically the same thing as a chick flick," Marissa said, resting her head on my shoulder, "but I'm not complaining. I always liked a good chick flick."

We sat there like that for awhile. Marissa closed her eyes, and I felt her force presence settle into what I recognized as sleep. She was a warm, comforting weight in my arms, and I was surprised to see that my own thoughts and feelings were relaxing. Still, there remained the nagging worry that she was in danger, and I had to protect her. Slowly, I drifted off to my own uneasy sleep.

~~JH~~

Going out on this date was like a breath of fresh air for Marissa. She hadn't realized how suffocating it had become living this singular cape life. Even now, a part of her was on guard for the moment when cape violence would erupt. She wondered if this was what it was like to suffer from PTSD.

"I still don't get it," said Taylor as they walked out of the theatre and into the cool night air. "Was the destruction of his homeworld a trigger event?"

"Now you're just making fun," said Marissa. "he was an alien. All his people had those superpowers."

"Yeah, but he didn't look alien," Taylor complained. "I need at least a bit of verisimil-"

Marissa took the opportunity to pop a jujube into her mouth. Taylor looked cross-eyed at her retreating fingers before chewing on the candy thoughtfully. "So if I make vapid complaints about your favourite Aleph superhero movie, I get more candy?" she asked, munching happily away.

"Don't push it." Marissa smiled at Taylor, but her mind was still back on the film. She remembered watching the television series back on Aleph. She had been a big fan of superhero stories. Choosing Man of Steel had been a blessing and a curse, as it reminded her of all the things she had lost... And gained, she thought as she looked up at Taylor, who was now looking at her curiously. Of course, Taylor could probably sense her anxiety - or whatever it is she did that tended to freak the others out. Marissa interlaced her hand in hers, which served to suitably discombobulate her.

"He was like a male version of Alexandria," Taylor went on in a musing tone. "Except for the eye beams of death."

"I think those were a later addition to the story," said Marissa. "Like the freeze breath."

"Freeze breath? Seriously?"

Marissa nodded excitedly. "Yeah, totally. If he blew hard, he could freeze a lake."

"How does that even work?" Taylor asked dubiously. "Are his lungs like refrigerators or something?"

Marissa shrugged. "I think it's supposed to be the same principle as when you blow on your finger and it feels cold."

Taylor was shaking her head. "that's not how that works at all. Powers are weird, but that's just silly. And he's not even a parahuman - he's an alien, and he can't even do that right - not even a single tentacle."

"Next time you're picking the movie then," said Marissa. "We'll see how well your selection holds up."

But Taylor's attention was drawn to something else. Marissa followed her gaze to a display across the street. The sign on the store read: Geo-World.

"I didn't take you for the new age type," said Marissa bemusedly.

"Come on." Taylor nearly dragged her across the street, and Marissa noted that she didn't even look for oncoming traffic as she nimbly evaded them. Her powers really were extraordinary.

The shop was full of tiny sparkling lights overhead. Marissa knew from her own experience that they were designed to maximize the lustre on the various gems in the store.

"A bit early in our relationship to be exchanging rings," Marissa said. "Besides, I'm a little offended you wouldn't go straight to Tiffany's. You don't think I'm worth it?"

But Taylor was only barely paying attention. her gaze fixed on the various stones. Marissa was used to Taylor's Megawatt gaze. Sometimes, it felt like she was being examined under a microscope when Taylor looked at her like that. It was no wonder that she gave people the creeps. Now though, that gaze seemed to be ratcheted up to the maximum as she studied each stone.

The shopkeeper ambled over and began to speak. "Is there anything I can help you with?"

Marissa was just about to blow her off and tell her they were just browsing, but Taylor spoke up first. "That one," she said, pointing to a sparkling translucent stone.

"Ah, vanadinite," said the shopkeeper knowingly, "both rare and lovely. Do you know your stones?"

"If I may hold it, please," said Taylor. She had turned her attention to the other stones.

The shopkeeper studied her a moment before unlocking the glass case and pulling out the stone. She handed it over. Taylor took it and held it up to the light. Marissa looked at it, but whatever Taylor was looking for, she couldn't see it.

"It'll do," said Taylor finally. "Do you have one that's bigger?"

"How big?" asked the shopkeeper. "I can always put one on order."

"What's the biggest you have?" Taylor asked. She did some mental calculus and then added, "I need about two hundred grams."

The shopkeeper frowned. "I do not think I can get you a single stone of that size."

"Multiple stones will suffice," said Taylor. "I'm going to melt them down anyway."

The shopkeeper nodded, but Marissa could tell the shopkeeper didn't comprehend what Taylor wanted the stones for. This was not a surprise. She herself had no clue.

"I can do that," said the shopkeeper. "I have some additional stones in the back."

"Done."

They arranged details, including price. Taylor didn't even try to haggle. A minute later, they were back outside with stones in hand.

"Do I get to know what all that was about?" Marissa asked.

Taylor hesitated, and Marissa could tell she was weighing her words carefully. Probably deciding how much to disclose. Finally, she said, "It's for my lightsaber."

"Your light - sabre?" Marissa hadn't heard of it before. "Is that related to the ten million dollar tinker device you bought?"

Taylor nodded. "The money was to get all the components - all except the crystal. The crystal was the final piece."

Marissa fell silent for a moment before saying, "I'm happy that you found your crystal. I really am, but maybe we could try to keep our dates free of cape business?"

"Oh," said Taylor. "Yeah, I'm sorry."

"S'okay." Marissa stopped and turned to face Taylor. "I really like you, Taylor. I know we're both capes. I know we're on a team, but this life... cape violence... it can't be all we are."

Their gazes locked, and Marissa felt that zing of exhilaration that she got when Taylor gave her full attention. She didn't know if it was her power, or something between them, but it always left her a little breathless.

"No more cape business," Taylor affirmed.

Marissa smiled and leaned forward to kiss her on the lips.

"FUCKING LESBOS!" someone screamed out the window of a passing Cadillac. Marissa felt that palpable aura of danger that accompanied Taylor go up a notch. Taylor narrowed her eyes, and suddenly the Cadillac was swerving as it lost control. All four tires had popped and were rapidly deflating. The people inside the car were screaming right up until they hit a lamp-post.

"We should probably go," Taylor said. "One of them has serious injuries." Which probably meant PRT involvement.

Marissa nodded.

"Uh, that didn't count as cape business, did it?" Taylor asked as they hurried down the street.

"You get a free pass, this once. Come on, I got a place we can go that's a little more private."

~~JH~~

I watched with a little nervousness as Marissa led me several blocks over. We were close to Coil's base, but still in a residential area. Marissa took me to a high-rise condo. The security guard greeted her. we took the elevator to the eighth floor. Marissa was just pulling out a set of keys, when I finally asked, "Do you have an apartment?"

Marissa nodded. "One of the things I did with my share of the money. I just needed a place I could get away sometimes."

I was surprised that she felt she needed that, but, after some thought, was pleased and a little embarrassed that she was telling me about it. "Does anyone else know about this?" I asked.

Marissa shook her head. "No, it's something I wanted just for me."

"Thank you," I said, "for sharing it with me then."

Marissa smiled. "I really like you, Taylor."

I pinked at the praise - something Marissa noted and was pleased about. I hadn't thought of myself as a lesbian before. I still didn't, but I couldn't deny the attraction I felt to Marissa. Objectively, I could admit she was beautiful. Whereas Emma had a delicate beauty, Marissa was more lithe and graceful. They were both the kind of beauty to inflame one's passions. I wondered if my feelings for Marissa were not wholly a physical attraction. I had been starved of positive physical and emotional contact for so long, and with my dad dead, I felt my last link to the world sundered. Then came Marissa. She was quickly becoming my whole world. This feeling inside me - it scared me sometimes. If I lost her... if she were in danger... I didn't know what I would do - who I would become.

"I really like you too," I said.

"Go have a seat," she said, prodding me gently to the couch. "I'll get us something to drink."

I took a seat. The apartment was tastefully furnished, but it had an impersonal quality to it. It must have been done by a decorator. Nothing of the objects in the room - the television, the artwork on the walls - the chairs and tables and bookshelves had Marissa's feel to them.

Marissa came back with two glasses of red wine. "I'm no wine expert," she said modestly. "I remember my parents had this kind at home. I hope you like it."

I took the glass. "I'm no expert either," I said lightly. "My dad wouldn't let me have wine – not even at special occasions." Not that we drank wine at the house after my mom died. Dad was more of a beer drinker; except I remember him getting into the whisky right after the car crash. I took a sip. It had a warm, spicy taste. I was still experimenting with flushing toxins from my system, and the force was ready and eager to do so now. I held it in check. I was pretty sure I didn't want to be sober at that moment. I licked my lips as Marissa sat next to me.

"I forget sometimes you're younger than me," Marissa murmured as she snuggled up against me. I became acutely aware of her body in that moment. I wrapped my arm around her and held her close. She was warm, and her closeness made me suddenly acutely aware of every point where our bodies were touching.

"Relax," said Marissa. "I just want to hold you and be held by you."

I did relax at those words. I was suddenly uncertain of everything. Uncertain of myself. Of Marissa. Of what I wanted.

"I've never been with anyone," I said, staring into my wine. "No boyfriend, no girlfriend. No friends, even. Not for a long time. And back when I did, I was so young. If I knew what was waiting for me..."

"I know," said Marissa. "My mother - I was never good enough. I tried so hard all the time. I failed so many times. I don't even know when, but there came a point when I just stopped trying."

I nodded. "Yeah. I just... living was a burden."

"I'm glad I found you," said Marissa.

"I'm glad you found me too." I turned my head to see Marissa looking up at me with those vibrant blue eyes. I didn't know if it was the wine, but I felt myself falling... and then my lips were meeting hers. My heart was thumping like mad, and blood was pounding in my ears. My power seemed to be building, a slow crescendo as I lost myself in the arms of another person to the point I could no longer tell where my force signature ended and hers began.

~~JH~~

A swirl of force energy - a disturbance - stirred me from sleep. I opened my eyes to sunlight streaming in from the window. I reached out with my senses. At first I didn't recognize where I was. Long seconds passed as the previous night's events filtered back into my conscious mind. I looked down at the warm weight pillowed against me. Oh, right, Marissa. A feeling of warmth and happiness swelled within me.

Carefully, I disentangled myself from her and made my way to the living room.

A quick check of my cell told me I had a single text from Coil's people. The Dinah situation was evolving, and I had to be on the road by noon. That was only fifteen minutes away. Coil was sending over a car. It did not surprise me in the slightest that he knew about Marissa's apartment or that I'd stayed here the night, and yet the message that was contained within that simple fact left me with a prickle of discomfort.

As I spent a few minutes washing up, a vague notion flitted back and forth in my mind that my relationship with Coil could only end with one of us dead. I didn't know if it was a fear or a premonition in the force, but it was unsettling. Before I left, I paused in the doorway of the bedroom to soak up the sight of Marissa's tousled blond hair and soft, unguarded, expression.

The warmer spring temperatures from yesterday evening were gone, a high pressure front having moved in, dropping the temperature to a biting 15 degrees. The only consolation was that it was windless - unusual for a city on the water. The sun was out on the horizon and set against a beautifully clear blue sky. I jogged to the end of the block where a nondescript black sedan waited. I hopped into the back seat. We were on the move before I could buckle myself in. Not that I would ever buckle myself in anyway. The force would warn me of any oncoming danger, and it was better that I be able to leap clear of the vehicle at the drop of a hat. There were two other people in the car. A man who was driving and a woman in the front seat. Both had the professional air of mercenaries. The woman handed me an envelope. I tore it open and quickly scanned it. I was supposed to make contact with Dinah. She was apparently going to leave school grounds and hang out in a nearby park during the lunch hour.

I frowned. Was I supposed to abduct her now in broad daylight? Coil's instructions were vague. What the heck did "make contact" mean? I gathered that Dinah's behaviour was unusual. It was too cold to spend long outside, and leaving school grounds – even at Winslow that was frowned upon. In the rich kids' schools, it was probably forbidden.

My phone buzzed with another text from Coil: Do not abduct. Escort back to school. Use a soft approach.

I tapped into the currents of the force to try to get a feel for what was happening. It was slow going, but something that I was beginning to think would be crucial if I were to succeed. Precogs were in a class of their own, and now I was dealing with two of them. It was becoming clear that Dinah leaving school was a message to Coil, and Coil was using me to respond with a message of his own. I was going to have to pick up the pace in learning my precog powers if I was going to keep up.

The car slowed at the curb of a small townhouse complex. It was time.

"It's three blocks in that direction," said the woman pointing.

I nodded and was already opening the door and stepping out. I expanded my awareness until I sensed the ball of tension that was my target. The strange yet inescapable conclusion was that she knew I was coming. I didn't know what her abilities were exactly, but it was clear she was a powerhouse.

~~JH~~

Dinah waited interminably. It was cold as... well she didn't really have a frame of reference for it, but it was darned cold outside. She pulled her jacket around her more tightly, and rubbed her fingers together inside her mittens. There was a 78% chance that meeting with the snakeman's stooge today would give her an extra few weeks reprieve from being abducted. She didn't know why. The numbers seemed to fluctuate whenever she thought of the snakeman.

Even though she knew someone was coming, she was still startled when the person - a teenage girl - appeared just a few feet from her as if by magic.

"Don't be alarmed," said the girl.

"Why should I be alarmed?" asked Dinah. She couldn't keep the sarcasm from her voice. "Nice day for a stroll,, isn't it?"

The girl frowned. "You've already got the beginnings of frostbite. Come on, I'll escort you back to school."

Dinah checked the numbers. No, that wasn't good enough. "So?" she asked. "I may as well die out here. It's better than the alternative."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean I'm a parahuman," said Dinah. "Don't bother looking surprised. You're obviously one too. Which gang do you work for?"

"Coil," said the girl.

At least she's telling the truth, thought Dinah. "And by school you mean his evil lair, right?"

"No," said the girl. "I really mean school. I can see your lips are turning blue." She cocked her head. "And I think the school's mobilizing. Police are approaching the front entrance."

Despite herself, Dinah was impressed. Those were some mean thinker powers. It finally hit her where she recognized her from. "You're that cape on tv." Dinah concentrated as she tried to remember. "Taylor?"

The girl tensed fractionally. "Yeah," she said. "That's me."

"You know what he's going to do to me, don't you?" Dinah asked.

The girl, Taylor, shook her head. "He won't. I'm going to see to it that you're treated fairly."

Dinah puzzled over that. Taylor seemed sincere, but when she checked her numbers, they hadn't moved appreciably. She needed to get them higher. Her sanity depended on it. "Do you know what his power is?" she asked.

Taylor paused and then shook her head. "I have some idea."

"Do you think he can't get rid of you if he really wants to?"

"I'm kind of hard to kill."

Dinah tried again. "They said that about Hookwolf too."

"Look," Taylor said, now irritated. "I'm just here to help you get back to school. If you don't get moving, I'm going to pick you up and carry you. It's your choice."

Dinah got to her feet. There was a way to turn this around. She was sure of it. "There's a 42.6385% chance he'll kill you in the next six weeks," she said quietly.

As they started walking back to the school, she said, "Even if that's true, Coil's not a bad boss. You could do a lot worse for employers, Dinah. I'm sorry you're being made to choose early, but I'm told the empire's already looking to poach you."

The school was in view now, and they could both see the gaggle of people that were already fanning out to look for her. It would only be seconds now before they spotted her and came running over.

"Is that why you're out here?" Dinah asked. "To keep the empire from talking to me first?"

"Yes." And then, after a moment, "I am to bring you to Coil, one way or another."

Points to the stooge for not prevaricating. "There's a 98% chance Coil will abduct me," said Dinah. "There's a 67% chance that you'll be the one to bring me to him."

"It doesn't have to be like that," said Taylor. "You're a parahuman. There's no escaping that. You're going to have to join a team eventually. You could do a lot worse than Coil. He's smart and he's trying to fix Brockton Bay - even if he is a bit ruthless. I'm hoping we can work out an arrangement where you can join willingly."

"Willingly?" Dinah had trouble believing that the girl in front of her could be so fucking delusional.

"Well, less unwillingly," Taylor amended.

Dinah frowned. She had used her power so much already, she didn't think she could ask many more questions. "You won't try to take me now?"

"No," said Taylor. "Listen, Dinah, I have to go now, but I want to tell you something." Taylor paused. They could hear faintly the sound of people shouting as they moved toward them. "I lost everything. I-" she hesitated. "I'm a precog too. I figure Coil must be one as well. All three of us - we're the same. Being a precog... it's a burden. I just want you to know that... I understand."

Dinah was about to speak but paused. Taylor was a precog. "Are you a combat precog?"

"More than that," said Taylor. "When I meditate, I can draw on visions of possible futures. I've seen you abducted and drugged and locked in a room, Dinah. I've seen Coil try to kill me and activate the self-destruct. Sometimes," Taylor seemed to turn inward as she thought about what she wanted to say, "sometimes the visions don't feel like they're in the future but that they're happening in the present. It was worse on the first day I met Coil. I won't let him do that to you. I promise. Maybe I won't be able to keep it, but I've been there. Lost, alone, uncertain, not wanting to be a cape. Wanting to turn back time. I guess I just wanted to say that, knowing the future, it's not everything. Despite the future you see – whatever it is - it can be better than that."

Dinah swallowed. The numbers were better now. A sharp pain bore into the center of her head. Taylor leaned forward and touched her temples, and suddenly, the pain receded. "Better?" she asked.

Dumbfounded, Dinah stared up at her wide-eyed. "How - how did you do that? That was a thinker headache. You're not supposed to be able to do that?"

"I have to go, Dinah. Think about it." Taylor left her at the entrance to the school grounds, moving so fast she blurred and then vanished from Dinah's sight.

Dinah's heart sank as she checked the numbers. The next time she saw Taylor Hebert, there was a 88% chance she would be taken.

~~JH~~

Coil's people picked me up about three blocks from the school. I immediately knew they were taking me directly to Coil. No doubt he would want to grill me on my encounter with Dinah. It was strange though, because if he were a precog, surely he would already be able to predict the outcome. Unless her power was interfering with his? It also didn't explain the strange and sudden spikes of danger that I would sometimes get, or the flashes of sudden and extreme violence. Sometimes I was slaughtering Coil's men. Other times Marissa was torn apart by hundreds of bullets. In one vision, I was sure I was strangling Coil with the force an instant before the entire base was obliterated.

My musings were interrupted by an insistent buzzing in the back of my head. My power was warning me of danger. It was a slowly building pressure, which I learned to associate with the anticipation of battle, but not the actual battle. Someone was moving against me... possibly setting up a trap. I reached out with my mind. There were several force signatures which had the feel of alert, trained combatants. I was also getting pretty good at distinguishing between cape and non-cape signatures - a secret I intended to take with me to the grave. I blinked as I realized there were half a dozen capes focused on me.

My two drivers were wholly oblivious to the danger bearing down on us. I debated what to do. Seconds later, the decision was taken out of my hands as my power flared with warning. I raised a shield around the car just as we were whacked sideways. Despite my shield, the car flipped onto its side. Even before it finished rocking back and forth, I was in motion, my feet landing on the rear driver's side window. The window overhead shattered outward, and I was torpedoing through the space and rolling to a crouch on the sidewalk ten feet away an instant before a superlaser boiled the sedan and its occupants into plasma. High up in the sky a small sun shone forebodingly - Purity. Meanwhile a dozen ghostly armored figures carrying large spears flew in my direction.

The empire had come for me.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Hello all and happy new year. A quick thank you to Edale for having beta read this chapter.

Arc 4: There is no Ignorance

Time seemed to slow as my reactions sharpened. I charged the nearest ghost. It jabbed its spear in my direction, but I was already leaping over it. I grasped another spear in midair by the shaft and used it to twist my body to avoid a third. I hit the ground at a dead sprint, but had to stop on a dime a second later as a veritable wall of light hit the ground mere feet from me. I threw up a force shield to deflect the fire and debris from the blast wave that radiated outward from the point of impact.

Good grief, I thought. Dodging Purity was going to be like dodging a TIE fighter. Crusader's ghosts were nothing to sneer at either. They were impervious to harm and nearly invisible to my force sense. And together, they weren't going to give me even a moment's rest.

Even as I dashed around another salvo of attacks from Crusader, I tried to reach up to touch Purity's mind. However, something was wrong. It was almost as if the corona of light that surrounded her shielded her in some way that I didn't fully understand.

I yelped as a spear grazed my shoulder and immediately refocused on the task of keeping distance between me and the ghosts. I sent an experimental force shove at the nearest one. The wave of kinetic energy did little more than make its form ripple. Maybe if I were given time, I could figure out how to manipulate them with the force, but Purity was determined not to give me the chance. Another three bolts bracketed me as she and Crusader tried to limit my movements and pin me down.

I weaved past another three spears as Crusader tried to hem me in. The ghosts seemed to be learning as six of them now took to hovering ten feet in the air. The ones on the ground were trying to force me to leap out of their way while the floaters swooped in to try to impale me. Every time I broke the cordon, Purity was there to rain bolts down on my head, which forced me to dodge, which forced me to slow down, which allowed Crusader to encircle me again.

There was just nowhere to hide – not unless I wanted to break into one of the houses, but there was no guarantee that wouldn't make things worse. Purity could very well just level any house I slipped into, and Crusader's ghosts, if I remembered right, could walk through walls.

I took a spear across my forearm as I battled my way through another formation. The tip scraped painfully against the bone, causing white hot agony as blood spattered the translucent figure's face.

I leapt clear of another blow and landed on someone's driveway next to a parked car. For an instant, I stared up at the blood that still painted the ghost that tagged me. My blood. It wasn't going through them. IN the span of an instant, this singular thought seemed to unfurl into a plan. I raised my bloody arm like a talisman. Blood fountained out of the wound and transformed into glistening red wires that wrapped around the ghosts. One managed to tag me across the cheek before I yanked them all away and held them suspended in midair.

I turned my gaze up to the heavens. Purity was just finishing gathering herself for a titanic strike – one designed to finish me off, even if it meant leveling half the block. Barely a second passed between the moment I neutralized Crusader and the moment Purity fired. It shouldn't have been enough time to do anything, and yet, as I was slowly discovering, in the force, all things were possible. In that scant second, the path to victory seemed to blossom in my mind.

The instant that Purity fired, the BMW next to me shot into the air, squarely interposing itself between us. The beam that lashed out was three feet wide. It was so hot it turned the very air molecules to plasma as it passed through the atmosphere. It was so powerful it should have burned clean through the car, blowing it apart and continuing to incinerate me. Only it didn't. Instead, I held the vehicle together with sheer will, moulding it around the beam, compressing the glass and steel as the immense energy of Purity's laserfire continued to pour into the material. Just when I thought my mind was going to rupture from the strain, the beam ended and above me floated a glowing sphere of molten death.

For a moment, time seemed to stop as I and Purity took in the strange sight of the pulsing miniature sun that seemed to hang twenty feet off the ground. Even Crusader's ghosts must have sensed that a shift had occurred in the fight as they stopped struggling and instead stared up at my jury-rigged plasma torpedo. In that slice of frozen stillness, I became aware of the many minds that were watching my battle with Purity and Crusader. My senses sharpened on a cluster of four that were packed together on the second floor of a house down the street. Their force signatures were bright, and their focus was razor-sharp. They didn't possess that peculiar mix of emotions that defined civilian observers. They were capes, and they were my enemies, and, more importantly, they were stationary.

Purity was backing up, no doubt wanting to have room to dodge, and Crusaders ghosts struggled against their bonds with renewed vigor. Neither of them realized; neither of them understood. I reflexively squeezed my hand as I compressed the homemade torpedo down to the size of a beach ball. I had only one shot, and I was determined to make it count.

~~JH~~

Krieg stood rigidly at attention throughout the attack. Everything was proceeding as predicted by the Gesellschaft thinker that had accompanied their sortie. Kaiser had been adamant that only empire capes participate directly in the battle. However, it was tacitly acknowledged that Gesellschaft's thinker was needed to locate the target, which she did flawlessly. She had even gone so far as to pinpoint the time and location where the attack had the highest probability of success, which had in turn allowed Krieg to participate, however tangentially, by delivering the opening blow.

Now he and Alabaster were relegated to protection detail for Crusader and the thinker. They were holed up in the master bedroom of a second floor house overlooking the chosen battleground – some random residential street. Why the target was passing through this area was unknown and ultimately irrelevant, as she would soon be nothing more than a footnote in history – a minor hiccup on the empire's glorious path to greatness.

From what they knew of Zephyr's powers, she was a telekinetic blaster thinker mover – some sort of grab-bag cape that was even wilier than Circus. This made melee combat dangerous. She'd even been able to overpower Hookwolf, though it was believed that was an artifact of her blaster power taking the form of a lightning attack, which everyone was theorizing that Hookwolf had a heretofore unknown weakness to – not unsurprising given that his power manifested in the form of a metal exoskeleton. No one had ever bothered to check to see if the metal which formed around him was conductive – an oversight that had proven deadly.

Krieg had developed the battle plan on the assumption that Zephyr's powers likely had a range limit and that her telekinesis, at best, might enable her to fly in the same manner as Crusader – not very quickly. Therefore, Purity and Crusader would be the front-line combatants in the battle. Both had unique strengths when dealing damage. Purity was fast and could deliver devastating strikes at range. Crusader could strike from multiple vectors all while his body remained at a position of safety. It was a perfect plan. Nothing could go wrong.

"They've cornered her," said Alabaster. "She's a block down the street. Looks like she tried to run but Crusader's wounded her and now she's surrounded."

Krieg suppressed the irritation at the way that Alabaster had stepped in front of him and was now pressing his face up against the window. Of course out of all of them, Alabaster had the keenest eyesight, and was best able to narrate the events that were unfolding. Still, it was unprofessional.

"She's done something to hold back Crusader. She's telekinetically holding them back with… I think that's blood."

Krieg glanced at Crusader, whose gaze was unfocused as he concentrated on his avatars. Holding them back with organic matter was a novel tactic Krieg hadn't heard of before. If the girl had come up with such a plan on the fly, then it spoke well of her tactical instincts. He cursed once more the heavy-handed approach used to bring her in, even though at the time it had been assumed that her powers were more cerebral and less physical.

"But it also looks like she's trapped. The ghosts are forming a loose globe around her… and now Purity's opening fire," continued Alabaster excitedly.

This was it. The girl was trapped between the hammer and the anvil. There was no escaping now. And once this business was concluded, the empire would be back on track, marching toward its ultimate victory against the subhumans. Purity must have put all her power into that beam, because, even from this distance, the intensity of it made Krieg's eyes water.

"Commander Krieg," said the Gesellschaft thinker in an airy, distracted voice. "I have analyzed the target's movements, and I believe there is a flaw in our stratagem. I recommend we abort the mission and leave immediately."

Krieg turned at the thinker's words, but his brain seemed to have trouble making sense of it. Leave? That was preposterous, wasn't it? And yet… to ignore the advice of a thinker was equally foolish. Still, to flee when, by his own estimation, their goal was in sight would almost certainly court reprisal if not from Kaiser than from Gesellschaft. "Leave? At the moment of our victory? I hardly think so. You overestimate this Zephyr's chances."

"Oh,"" said Alabaster, with a note of consternation. "She's launched a car to intercept the beam. And now it's… what the hell is that?"

Troubled, Krieg's mind raced. The girl had been on the defensive this entire time. Could she truly turn the tables so suddenly and decisively? He moved to one side to see past Alabaster's head to try to figure out what was going on. In the distance, about a block down the road, a glowing ball of something was hanging in midair. Purity was backing away, which was understandable. He too felt a sudden urge to back away from whatever the hell that was.

Krieg suddenly had a premonition of foreboding as it came to him what he was seeing. Somehow, the girl had captured the energy of Purity's laser beam in the material of the car and was holding it together telekinetically. Even from this distance, he could sense the immense power that was keeping all that energy coiled together. And if his eyes weren't deceiving him, that glowing ball of superheated steel was being compressed even further. Behind him, he heard the latch of the door as the thinker tried to flee. He had time only to raise one arm to shield his face when suddenly the world exploded.

The next thing Krieg remembered was blinding agony. It was hard to tell, but he thought he might have been laying on the ground. He couldn't blink or see. Something was wrong with his vision. He tried to lift his arms to feel around, but something was wrong there too. For long seconds, he tried to push past the pain to make sense of the disjointed sensations he was experiencing. Vision in his left eye slowly cleared to reveal a scene of devastation. He'd been blown backward and was partially embedded in the drywall. Much of the house had been wrecked. The second floor had collapsed partway down toward the first floor. His feet were dangling just a foot over the linoleum in the kitchen. What looked like the remains of Alabaster was painted across the stainless steel stove. His head was completely gone. Only the tatters of unnaturally white skin on the few limbs visible gave the corpse's identity away. Krieg turned his head sluggishly to one side. He realized that his right eye was ruined, and now that sensation was fully returning, he could feel the hot and heavy weight of something on his face. He had to crane his head to get Crusader's body in his field of view. A basketball-sized hole had punched through his friend's chest.

Absently, he reached his good hand to touch his face. At a guess, he would say that it felt like he had been splattered with molten steel and some of it had gotten in his eye. A glance at his own body confirmed that his right arm had been mostly burned away. His power had likely protected him from instant death. Now that he could focus better, he vaguely recalled raising his right arm on instinct to ward off the massive blow. Only he hadn't been able to deflect it completely.

He registered the sound of the PRT vehicles. This was it for him. He idly wondered if he would be given a deal like Victor, or tossed straight into the cage. He honestly didn't know which was worse, though it also felt like he didn't really care at all. Was this what shock felt like? Maybe he'd care more after everything stopped hurting. At least they'd probably heal him. Small mercies. He closed his eye and let his muscles relax, there was nothing left for him to do. Maybe if he could just rest for a moment, he could catch his bearings.

The next time he opened his eye, he was looking up into the glowing, ethereal face of Purity. Her large brown eyes gazed sorrowfully back at him. Oh right, he thought, he'd been maimed, and she had, in a roundabout way, contributed to that. Something stirred painfully in his chest at the thought. He opened his mouth to speak, but stopped at the sudden pain. Somewhere along the way, he had bitten down hard on his tongue and now the inside of his mouth was coated in blood.

"Shh," said Purity softly. She slipped her delicate arms around him. An instant later, he was cocooned in a bed of warm light as they floated high into the air. He distantly heard the shouting of the PRT soldiers for them to stop.

~~JH~~

I barely noticed the ghosts winking out as I stared at the devastation I had wrought. Globs of glowing molten steel were still visible on parts of the house. Some of it was dripping onto the ground, steam and smoke hissing and spitting from everywhere it touched. Purity was a distant dot in the sky. Her shock and anger and fear was a beacon in the force. Three of the capes were dead. One was seriously wounded. I debated continuing the fight, but the approaching PRT vehicles dissuaded me. I didn't want to be anywhere near this when they showed up. Not that there was any hiding what happened. I sensed at least three people videoing the whole fight.

I lifted up the nearest manhole cover and descended once more into the sewer system. I really needed a speeder bike. As I left the area, I contemplated my next move. Presumably Coil would want me back at the base, but it wasn't obvious to me that I should return. At least not right away. The empire had ambushed me, that meant they had advanced warning as to where and when to attack. The only one I could be certain had that information was Coil. Yet the idea of Coil trying to use the empire to kill me didn't make sense. Not only did Coil still need me, but the attempt itself was clumsy. Coil, I was certain, would have done a better job. Unless the attack was meant to allow Coil to probe my defences without actually killing me. That was the sort of thing Coil would do, I decided. And if it meant that the empire lost a few capes in the process, all the better.

Coil's last text had instructed me not to abduct Dinah. If I'd had her with me and the empire attacked… then she would have gotten caught in the crossfire. At best she would've been killed and at worse she would have been taken by the empire. There was no way I would have been able to get out of that trap with a 12 year old in tow.

So Coil had probably known. I slowly came to a halt as the realization suffused me. Coil had intentionally thrown me into the grinder with the empire. He could've warned me but chose not to. He probably wanted to see how well I would respond with a surprise attack. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

Hunting Coil down and strangling him was tempting. Very tempting. But ultimately, it was counterproductive. I still needed him. The Travelers still needed him. And no matter what, Coil still had plausible deniability on his side. My thoughts were still just theories. There was still a chance that Coil didn't know I would be attacked. It may have been that he only suspected, or that he knew Dinah would not reach his base if abducted. I just didn't know enough about the parameters of his power to know what he knew or didn't know.

What I needed was to be able to better defend myself. I had felt naked out there without my lightsaber. I needed it now more than ever. I hadn't realized that the empire was gunning for me. Naively, I thought that my fight with them was over. They'd killed my dad, and I'd killed a couple of their capes.

It was only when I returned my attention to my surroundings that I realized where I was. In a shadowy recess, there lay the unassuming briefcase I had taken from Skidmark. At the time I had retrieved the case, I hadn't appreciated how important it would ultimately become – important enough even to accede to Coil's demand that I assist in Dinah's recruitment. Kyber crystals simply didn't exist on this world. The crystals that did exist were a pale shadow to what I truly needed to complete my lightsaber. But here in this briefcase lay the very material to achieve my goal. The only thing that remained was to forge the contents of the can into the appropriate crystalline structure – a task that could take days of concentrated effort.

I had been putting off this task for awhile now, but no more. It was time to build my lightsaber.

~~JH~~

Coil stared at the Travellers with ever-mounting frustration. "Where is Zephyr?" he asked in a quiet, deadly voice.

"I'm sorry," said Marissa helplessly. The other Travellers were equally baffled, but they were also shooting Sundancer semi-accusatory glances. After all, she was the one who was apparently dating Zephyr.

"She left my apartment Thursday morning," Marissa tried to explain. 'I was still sleeping. I only vaguely recall her leaving."

Coil did not move. He knew this already. His guards had reported that Zephyr had made contact with Dinah. she had then been retrieved. After that, things got murky. He knew that Zephyr had been in a fight with the empire. All of Brockton Bay knew it from the devastation that had been left in her wake. But where the hell had Zephyr gone? He'd been forced by necessity to drop the other timeline, but he needed Zephyr to answer questions so he could formulate his next move to capture Dinah. The longer Zephyr was MIA, the more his ignorance became a problem in his plans.

He'd been tempted to keep the timeline where he hadn't told Zephyr to go speak to Dinah, but that timeline was, in some ways, worse. The empire had caught Zephyr and Sundancer unawares in their apartment, and Sundancer had been killed. The resulting bloodbath made even Coil's stomach turn. No, that hadn't been a good timeline to keep. An insane Zephyr was not what Brockton Bay needed. At least not yet.

The only saving grace was that the fight between Zephyr and the empire had managed to simultaneously cripple them and make them look incompetent. Losing a five-on-one cape ambush was downright embarrassing, and the way Zephyr had turned Purity's attack into a weapon against them had been a thing of beauty. That was a bonus for so many reasons. The empire was built on reputation. Anything that detracted from their reputation was a major blow, since it was normally so hard to do. Kaiser was a crafty character who managed to balance politics and violence well. Having him lose in both arenas simultaneously was a real blow.

Coil's radio crackled to life. "Sir?"

"Yes," said Coil, irritated at the interruption. The next time his timeline got freed up, he was going to use it to torture someone.

"The van containing the shipment of parts from Toybox arrived," said Hendriks.

"Excellent."

But there is a problem. The van doesn't contain the parts."

"What?" Coil gripped the radio receiver so hard the plastic casing creaked in his hand. "Where is it?"

"We're interrogating the guards now," replied Hendriks with a touch of nervousness. "The drivers don't recall what happened. But we have established that there were three minutes of missing time, during which the van was brought to a stop, the rear doors were opened, and the goods were removed."

Coil's mind raced. There was no one in the Bay who had that sort of power except… maybe Zephyr. He had never seen her use her master powers in any meaningful way no matter how he tested her. All he had was what the PRT had, which was the one instance where she used it when escaping Rune. But even then her power had manifested in the form of a rather conventional mind controlling power. Masters were feared and hated in equal parts, but the PRT knew how to deal with them. Such powers were almost universally discernible by a careful psych evaluation. Often thinkers were not even required to assess the victim. A master invariably used their master power to force someone to do something out of character, which almost always had collateral effects on a person's behaviour and actions. Altering memories, however, was a different game – one which opened up possibilities.

"Acknowledged," said Coil. "Are you certain the guards-" he was cut off by a priority alert on his computer. The tinker surveillance software had flagged something on the perimeter of his base and had switched to a live feed of the sidewalk. It was Zephyr. She looked up at the camera and, somehow, met his gaze even though it should have been impossible.

He turned to the others in the room and said, "Get out."

They rushed to comply.

~~JH~~

I stood just a few steps from the entrance to Coil's base. The force was agitated, and I knew that whatever happened in there was not going to be pretty. Hopefully it was just a lot of yelling. I gathered my resolve and stepped into the base. My newly crafted lightsaber was clipped to my belt - a comforting presence at my hip.

Four of Coil's people stopped me in the hall. Fish was the only one I recognized. "Come with us, please." It was not a request, but neither did I sense imminent violence if I disobeyed. Nevertheless, I was not here to start a fight. I needed to get back into Coil's good graces.

I was brought to Coil's office once more. Once more, I was left alone with him. He sat behind his desk. For a moment, he was silent and motionless. However, I sensed his curiosity through the force as he spotted my lightsaber. "I see you found what you were looking for."

The force was whispering for me to remain silent.

Another moment, and he went on, "tell me why I should not just have you killed."

Again, I waited.

"No answer?" he asked.

Finally, I spoke, "I have done everything you asked of me."

"Seriously? You seriously think you've done everything I've asked? Did I ask for you to disappear for three days? did I ask for you to steal a shipment of supplies as it made its way to my base. A shipment of supplies that cost me 9 million dollars, and which I paid as a favor to you."

"You set me up to die at the hands of the empire," I replied. "I don't think that three days is too much to ask. Besides, I wasn't avoiding you out of spite or disloyalty or any other such thing. Quite the opposite. I wanted to make sure that, when I resurfaced, I was properly armed to defend myself, my team, and my employer."

"You think I set you up?" he asked. "what makes you say that?"

"How did they know where to ambush me? You were the only one who knew I would be there that day."

"I did not betray you to the empire," said Coil irritably. "We have already had this discussion on your trust issues, and I don't want to have it again. The answer to your question is that the empire had a thinker that was able to locate you. Her body was found in the wreckage of the house you destroyed with that… projectile."

"A thinker?" The empire didn't have a thinker like that; at least not as far as I knew.

"On loan from Gesellschaft," Coil added, anticipating my question.

Gesellschaft. The name was familiar to me. They were the parent Nazi organization in Europe. They were supposed to be big and powerful and aggressive. If they were getting involved, it would not mean good things either for me or for Brockton Bay. "All the more reason not to come back here until I could be certain I could defend us."

"Are you going to have a rationalization for every act of disobedience? Don't bother answering that question." Coil sighed, but I could tell he was cooling down. Finally, he said, "Tell me everything that transpired between you and the Alcott girl. Leave nothing out."

I dutifully did as instructed. Coil seemed ambivalent about the whole thing. He was itching to have Dinah's power. That was clear. But he also wanted to tread carefully so as not to draw undue attention to himself. And from what I could gather, abducting Dinah would do just that unless he took steps to avoid it.

There were nuances in the relationship that I wasn't fully able to grasp. Theoretically, Dinah could go to the PRT or the Protectorate, they were powerful and could no doubt protect her. Possibly Coil had some way of intercepting her en route or disrupt her ability to seek shelter. Or possibly it was that Coil would retaliate by killing her parents, thus making the cost of seeking shelter with the PRT unacceptably high. Then again, Dinah could also theoretically out Coil. Even before I had told her who my employer was, I had sensed that she already knew. Being the mayor's niece meant that she had powerful connections. Telling the higher-ups at the PRT that she was in danger from Coil was literally a phone call away. She only needed to speak to her parents about it over the dinner table. And if Coil had their house bugged, she could no doubt contrive a situation to have that conversation in a private location. That assumed that she was savvy enough to figure out these things given that she was twelve years old. Still, it would mean that Coil would have to have some sort of ace up his sleeve to paralyze Dinah so thoroughly.

"Before you go," Coil said. "I'd like to take a look at your new device."

I hesitated, which was something Coil definitely noticed. Nevertheless, I unclipped it from my belt and held it out to him.

He took it with deliberate care, obviously having respect for tinker gadgetry. He turned it over as he inspected it. At one point, he even pointed the emitter right at his face. A negligent thought from me could have had a beam of plasma boring through his skull. Finally, he reversed his grip so that the emitter pointed to one side. His thumb hovered over the activation switch. "May I?"

"Be my guest."

He thumbed the switch. A three-foot long glowing green blade extended out from the emitters with a satisfyingly familiar hum. There was no visible expression of his assessment of the weapon, but it was apparent in the force that his reaction was mixed. He picked up a pen from his desk and pressed the tip into the blade an inch before pulling it back and inspecting the molten end.

"Contained plasma?" he asked.

"Yes," I said.

"Hmm." He deactivated the blade and handed it back to me. "It's interesting, but hardly worth the fuss or the money. A tinker rifle would be cheaper and would also provide range – something your tinker sword lacks."

"I believe it will serve me well," was my only response. I took the criticism with equanimity. I didn't need or want Coil's approval. And besides, he wouldn't understand no matter how much I explained it to him. I doubted anyone who wasn't a force user could understand.

"Go on, then. Go back to your team. I'm sure they have been worried about you."

I gave him a curt nod before leaving his office.

~~JH~~

"You're off the team," said Trickster.

"Now hold on," said Marissa.

He turned on her. "She. Is. Off. The. Team." He punctuated each word with a jab of his finger. "You know what? She was never even on the team, Mars. Get your head screwed on straight. You picked some stray off the street and tried to bring it into our lives. Laudable. Really, it is. But it was a bad idea. I told you then, and I'm telling you now. She's nothing but trouble."

"She saved my life against that ABB teleporter," said Marissa. "I wouldn't even be alive if it weren't for her."

"For Christ's sake," said Ballistic. "You're hardly objective, Mars. I ain't saying she didn't save your life, but you need to listen to us. She's bad news. And besides, we probably would have had a different plan for that ABB job if she weren't around, or maybe Coil wouldn't have even sent us."

I stood in the corner listening, but not saying a word. the force gave me no guidance, and I could see no way of defending myself that wouldn't end up in violence. They were right to be pissed. I'd run off without consulting them - without even telling them multiple times now. And yet, I didn't regret it. I would do it again. The reality was that my power guided me, and ignoring it was unthinkable. I relied on it. It was a friend... an ally...

"Well?" demanded Trickster. They were all looking at me.

I mentally backtracked through the conversation. Ah, they'd asked me if I had an explanation. "My power told me to do it," I said. "I don't have any better answer than that."

"Your power?" asked Oliver curiously. "What do you mean?"

I looked around. Trickster was still angry, and Ballistic was skeptical, but the others were willing to listen. Genesis even looked thoughtful.

I tried to explain, "My power warns me of attacks. It's like it...," I searched for the words, "it whispers to me. It guides me. I can ignore it, but I've learned to trust its judgment. It hasn't steered me wrong yet."

"Apart from driving a wedge between you and everyone around you," said Marissa evenly. I looked at her, but could not hold her gaze. She'd also been hurt by my disappearing act.

"I mean that it guides me to do things to help keep me alive," I said. I drew out my new laser sword and activated it. All eyes were drawn to the green blade. I gave it an experimental swish, and it made a satisfying hum as it cut through the air. "After my encounter with the empire capes, I knew I was out of my depth. they could have killed me. I eked by them by the thinnest margin. My power told me that time was critical. I had to move quickly to build my sword to defend myself."

I deactivated it and put it away. I'm sorry," I said. "I know I'm not a very good teammate. I'm moody. I'm insular and I don't talk much. And then I run off at weird times and not say anything to anyone." I shrugged helplessly. "I don't think I can change. I can't just shut off my power. If that means I have to be off the team, then I'm off the team." The words were painful to say, but I was not and never would be the kind of person that didn't take responsibility for my own actions.

The others were silent for a minute.

Finally, Trickster said, "Go outside. No, - go for a walk. Go far enough that you can't hear us or sense us or read our minds or whatever it is you do." And then, in a more weary voice, "Just go." The implication that they were going to discuss me went unsaid, but was no less real.

I left.

I was just walking down the hall from our common room when Marissa came rushing up behind me.

"Whatever happens," she said, "take this." She pressed something into my hands. It was a set of keys. "For the apartment," she explained with a little embarrassment. "Wait for me there, yeah?"

There was no mistaking the relief in my expression. "Thank you."

~~JH~~

I was mopping the kitchen floor when Marissa came in hours later.

"You're not off the team," she said. I knew this already. I could read it through the emotions from her force signature. She studied me. "You're not surprised though. Did your power tell you the answer?"

"Sort of," I said. "I can read people's... I guess you can call them auras. The way you felt to me, I could guess that I was still on the team."

Marissa rubbed her temples. "Taylor, you see how that scares people, don't you?"

I looked down. She came over and hugged me. "Not me," she said. "I couldn't be scared of you like that. But you know what I mean."

"I know," I said into her shoulder. "It scares me too. Am I going to end up pushing everybody away?"

"Not everybody," she said. "It'll just be a challenge that you and I have to work through." After a moment, she went on in a lighter tone, "You know though that I'm going to hold you to a higher standard for birthdays and anniversaries, right?"

I laughed, and I could feel tears threatening to spill. "I'm so glad I have you."

"Me too. Now, I know you cooked something, it smells delicious. Let's have something to eat, and we can talk about where we go from here."

~~JH~~

It'd been a week since the disaster with Zephyr. Kaiser had taken to brooding in his office at all hours. He was there now. While he couldn't fault Krieg for either the plan or the execution, it didn't change the fact that the empire was weaker than it'd ever been. The entire fight had been captured on video from multiple angles. This had not been unanticipated. In fact, Kaiser had aimed to have substantial video footage of Zephyr's total annihilation plastered across the internet – a testament to the fate that befell any cape who defied the natural order.

In the span of a single month, nearly ten years of hard work had been undone. Every cape was precious, and now he'd up and lost seven capes. Seven fucking capes. He threw his tumbler of whisky across the room in a fit of sudden and uncontrollable rage.

Seven capes. That singular fact burned constantly in the back of his mind. It made him seize up with impotent fury. The empire was still powerful. It still had capes, and it still had hundreds of millions of dollars in resources to burn on ending the menace that dared to defy it. And yet the sheer magnitude of the loss could not be ignored. Moreover, he could not go ten minutes without the crippling blow being brought to his attention in one form or another. Even now, a week later, pundits on the internet were still blathering their useless opinions about it – as if anyone gave a shit.

The urge to pick up the entire might of the empire and throw it at her – Zephyr – it was nearly overwhelming. He wanted her gone. He wanted her ground to dust beneath his heel. He wanted to see the realization in her eyes that her life was over – that it was meaningless – that she would ultimately prove to not even merit a footnote in the history of the world.

But as much as he longed for it, he also knew that this fight had grown past the empire now. Whether he liked it or not, Gesellschaft was involved. Zephyr had killed one of theirs – another embarrassment for him in that he couldn't protect their prized thinker. Moreover, she had deliberately targeted non-combatants. It didn't matter to Gesellschaft if the thinker had helped locate her. The thinker had only been there to observe. And with this new reality now in place, Gesellschaft would take a more personal hand in her destruction. And if Kaiser had been confident that the empire could handle one young cape upstart, then there was simply no question that Gesellschaft, one of the most powerful cape organizations in the world, would obliterate her.

The door opened, and Duro walked in. This was another problem. Before his defeat, Duro and the others had at least accorded him some degree of deference. Walking in without knocking and requesting permission would have been unthinkable before. But now it was second nature, and he could not object without sounding petty. There were even moments when some of the capes looked at him like he was a buffoon – an object of ridicule not fit to scrub toilets let alone command an empire.

"Plans are now in place to capture this Zephyr," said Duro briskly. He took a seat and continued, as if it were right and proper that Kaiser drop whatever he was doing to listen to Duro's plan. "We will use Night and Fog. From what we know of Zephyr's movements, we have narrowed her zones of activity within the city to a few places. Night and Fog and others will lie in wait. Eventually, the target will appear, and we will ambush her."

Kaiser closed his eyes briefly. The girl could not be ambushed. But he didn't bother saying anything. Either they would ignore him, having assumed that he had become scared of her, or they would listen to him, in which case they would come up with a better plan for which he would receive no credit.

"Ah," said Duro knowingly. "You believe the cape cannot be ambushed. I think you are wrong. My thinkers believe she senses emotions. Night and Fog are perfect for the ambush because they, of all our capes, have no emotions. They are perfect assassins for this operation. And even if they fail… we are even now preparing a contingency."

Kaiser couldn't help but see the comment as yet another sleight to him and his. "I wish you and your capes good hunting, then." Technically Night and Fog had left Gesellschaft to work for Kaiser, but in this case, he knew that raising that point would only cost him, so he let that go as well.

Once Duro was gone, Kaiser relaxed back in his chair. He would have to leave any plans for Zephyr off the table for the moment. His empire, both in and out of costume, needed to be strengthened. Then, in time, when he was stronger, he could deal with any threats to him and his.

~~JH~~

It was mid-March, and winter was quickly becoming a distant memory.

"I guess Earth Aleph puts out a lot of these cape movies," I said. "I mean, it's only been a month since we saw the last one, and now there's this one."

"Well, Iron Man is from a different comic series," said Marissa. "You see, each of the movie companies puts out their own lines of superhero stories, since they're competing with one another. So they each want to have their own roster of superhero movies."

"I thought Jess was the cape geek," I teased. Marissa blushed. I took a sip of my hot chocolate as we stood outside in a small public garden between two apartment complexes.

"Yeah, she is. I guess I picked up a little from her over the years."

I looked at her quizzically. "Have you known each other long then?"

Marissa averted her gaze, and I sensed her hesitation to answer the question. This was not the first time. She had always been cagey about her past, her relationship to the others - everything really. "Yeah," she said finally. "Awhile."

I was about to change subjects when I felt a flare of danger in the force. However, unlike before, the force not only warned me of danger for myself, but the flare was equally directed at Marissa. Even more astounding was the knowledge that crystallized in my mind - we could not both escape the trap.

A massive fog descended upon us. A cursory glance suggested it stretched out for thirty feet in all directions. "Get-" I coughed as the horrid substance filled my lungs, which suddenly felt like it was on fire. Instinctively, I grabbed Marissa with the force and propelled her onto a mound of snow as far away as I could safely throw her. I was about to follow when a surge of force danger had me raising a shield instead. Something slammed into the shield with enough force to send me skidding backward ten feet. The fog stayed with me, keeping me in the center of its area of effect - this was no ordinary fog - not even a tinker gas could do that.

I leapt to one side, propelling myself with the force so I could escape the long, tentacle-like appendages of the thing that was trying to kill me. Its strength was massive. Its blades cutting through cement with ease as it stalked toward me. All the while, I was sucking in great gulps of the force to flush my body, and keep me from being eaten alive by the fog-monster. I leapt backward ten feet as the creature swiped at me with one long claw. Yes, it was true, I decided. The fog was following me to make sure I stayed in the center. And it was fast too. Even if I could escape its area of effect, it could go after Marissa.

I drew my lightsaber and activated it. The fog swirled agitatedly around the blade as I gave it a few experimental flicks. I had no time to study the effect as the other cape - Night, I realized - attacked once more. This time, I ducked to one side, allowing one of the appendages to come within clawing distance. I intercepted it with my lightsaber. The blade felt only the barest pressure before passing through the limb. It went sailing off to one side and did not heal. There was no burst of pain from my opponent. In fact, there was almost no impression of its mind at all in the force. I may as well have been fighting a machine. But that wasn't to say it was dumb. Night advanced more cautiously now that it knew I could hurt it.

Night was still completely obscured by Fog, but as we danced back and forth in a flurry of strikes and counterstrikes, its size and shape and motion grew easier and easier to track. It watched my blade warily and with the first stirrings of frustration. I dipped the blade to one side, showing weakness from the poison that was not entirely feigned. I could not fight in this poison trap for much longer, which meant I needed to end this.

Night took the bait, rampaging forward with its body in an attempt to overwhelm my defences. It was clearly prepared to take some damage to end the fight, and it would only take one swipe of a claw to do it. I danced back just as quickly, turning my blade into a fan of green death to keep it from advancing any further. The moment it stopped its charge, I leapt forward into its guard. Instantly three tentacles whipped at me in a frenzy. Two were neatly lopped off with a twirl of my lightsaber and the third I ducked. I reversed the grip on my blade and drove it into Night's center mass. It let out, for the first time, a keening wail and skittered back. I went after it with a vengeance and ran it down, hacking at limb after limb until it could no longer run. There was no mistaking the desperation in its cry as I burned through several of its compound eyes. The wound didn't fully cauterize, and so black blood sprayed out of the gash.

Night's fear and confusion was growing. The two capes working in tandem should have been a perfect counter to my powers. It must have seemed inconceivable that, somehow, I was able to resist them. They didn't understand. The empire didn't understand. None of them did. The force was not just a power. It was my ally, and it meant that I was never alone. And it was, as I was slowly beginning to realize, so much more than I could have ever imagined.

Night was trying to disengage, but she was too injured now even to escape, and Fog could not shield her. He could not hide her. It could barely even slow me down.

There was a flare of panic before suddenly the fog was gone. So too did the creature vanish. In their place remained two capes. If they thought I would show mercy, or if they thought returning to human form would somehow stall me, they were sorely mistaken. My blade was halfway through her neck before she realized she was being decapitated. Her hand spasmed over a flashbang. But my blade was there, severing her hand at the wrist before her head tumbled to the snow. Her hand and then the rest of her followed.

Fog's pain over the burns that covered his body was eclipsed by his anguish at the sight of his partner. He fell next to her, his hands reaching down to touch her. Like so many of the capes who came before, he seemed to not be able to grasp that he and his teammate could be killed. I relieved him of his ignorance a moment later as my blade slid through his neck. With a gentle nudge of the force, I let his head roll to rest next to his partner. That was the extent of the mercy I would show my enemies.

My lungs still burned from whatever Fog did to me, but they were rapidly clearing as the force soothed away my injuries now that the danger had passed. And yet, despite that, the anger inside me seemed to only swell and swell. This was the third time I had been attacked. The third fucking time. And not only me but Marissa too. They weren't going to stop. They were just going to keep throwing capes at me until one finally got me. If I hadn't had my lightsaber, I would have died. And there was no telling whether they would have stopped at me, or if they would have gone on to kill Marissa too. The thought of these capes – these vermin – hurting Marissa ignited my fury to new heights. The smell of ozone had me looking down at my hand. Electricity was crackling about my partially curled fingers. They would not get away with this. I would not let them.

Something tickled on the edge of my senses. I was being watched – not a surprise. I was getting used to that feeling. But there was something else. There were empire gang members watching me. I couldn't be certain how I knew it was the empire, but there was no doubt in my mind. Only they weren't capes. However, that didn't matter to me in that moment. I wanted them to understand. I needed them to understand. There would be no quarter given. There would be no mercy. The empire wanted to declare war on me. I would rise to meet that challenge, and they would learn in time the full magnitude of their error.

I reached one darkly smoking hand up to the apartment complex where I sensed the disturbance in the force. I latched onto the nearest person and yanked them through the window in a shower of shattering glass.

~~JH~~

Marissa stared wide-eyed at the vast stretch of fog that had descended on the courtyard where they had been enjoying their date. She had no doubt this was a cape attack. She'd heard of Night and Fog - a dangerous cape duo that was affiliated with the empire. Taylor had sent her hurtling out of the way, but had opted to remain inside. Why they couldn't have run, she had no idea. She was forced instead to watch in mute horror as Taylor remained within that lethal poison for minutes.

Marissa had only been exposed to a small amount of the fog, but it was enough to paralyze her with agony. Her lungs still felt like they were on fire, and she could barely see through the tears. Only the fact that she occasionally heard the hum of that lightsaber told Marissa that Taylor was still up and fighting. Finally, the fog seemed to dissipate, and both empire capes were standing there. Correction, she thought numbly as Taylor casually dismembered them. They were now lying in pieces on the frozen grass. Marissa was just about to pick herself out of the snowbank when Taylor lifted one hand into the air as if grasping something. There came the sound of breaking glass, and a man went hurtling from one of the nearby apartments. He screamed in terror as he plummeted toward the ground.

He struck a large stone fountain. His body seemed to compress inward against the structure before exploding, spraying bits of human matter across the ground. Taylor was still holding out her hand, but had closed it tight into a fist. She looked grimly satisfied at her handiwork. Marissa leaned over and threw up at the smell of human viscera.

When she returned her gaze to see what was happening, Taylor was floating into the air. She went straight for the same apartment she'd just torn that man from. Marissa's mind seemed to blank at the sound of gunfire and screams. Both ended abruptly, leaving only the faint sound of Taylor's weapon in the oppressive silence that ensued. It just couldn't be. Taylor wouldn't have gone into someone's apartment and just murdered a bunch of people. It took her a second to realize that her gaze had fixated on the two dead capes. She turned suddenly away, unable to look at them. Taylor wouldn't do that… but Taylor did just do that. Marissa had never seen Taylor fight before – not even during the ABB job. She'd been too preoccupied with her own fight with Oni Lee. She'd never seen Taylor's eyes turn that horrible yellow. She'd never felt that aura of dark menace that seemed to touch her in her soul. She understood, for the first time, why people stepped warily around Taylor Hebert. Tears sprang anew to Marissa's eyes, but these were no longer caused by the lingering effects of the poison.

When Taylor returned, there were still flecks of yellow in her eyes. She reached out one hand to Marissa and casually said, "The threat has been neutralized." But Marissa barely saw the hand. Behind Taylor, fanning out was that hideous display of human remains. Taylor's handiwork. And when she managed to focus on her girlfriend, she couldn't not see the expression of dark satisfaction in those eyes.

"Come on, we have to go."

Reluctantly, she reached up and took Taylor's hand.

~~JH~~

Shadowstalker stared at the remains of the two empire capes. The PRT troops were busy cordoning off the area and cleaning up the mess. Armsy had just cleared the area of any lingering traces of Fog's power - apparently trace amounts remained after he returned from his changer state - who knew.

"Do we have any idea who did this?" asked Assault grimly.

Armsy was just returning. He glanced at Shadowstalker, and she could feel the frown threatening to form. She'd happened to be in the area, which was the only reason she'd been allowed to stay. Her partner, Clockblocker, was puking in the bushes. Not a surprise. The smell was horrendous. Apparently whoever did this had basically pureed a man and sprayed his guts across the entire area. "No - maybe." Well I'll be damned, Sophia thought. Armsy actually sounds uncertain. He went on, "There's a 52% match with Zephyr's profile based on eye witness accounts."

Sophia's mind blanked for a second. She glanced at the carnage. No way, she thought. Killing Hookwolf in the heat of battle after her dad died - fine - she could buy that sort of. But this - this was gruesome, no holds-barred shit.

"Seriously? A teenage girl?" Assault asked. "This looks like something the Nine would do."

Sophia glanced around. Christ, man, she thought. Don't fucking say their name. It was practically a taboo or something.

"Bonesaw is younger than Zephyr," Armsy pointed out, but then, after a moment, he added, "But it does not fit her personality make-up unless something drastic has changed that we do not know about."

Assault studied the crime scene critically. "She was here with a friend of hers," he murmured. "The empire jumps them - probably for revenge - maybe sanctioned - maybe not." He walked around, studying the ground. "She would almost certainly have to be in possession of a fancy tinker device - have we ruled out another cape?"

"No," said Armsy slowly. "But the footage we have of the scene suggests that only one cape used their powers in any overt manner. The person who did so used some form of telekinesis to pull a man from a nearby apartment three stories up. There's shaky footage of the cape leaping up to the third floor. she was holding a tinker device of some kind - likely the device that cauterized the wounds on dismemberment."

"An energy sword like Brandish," said Assault. "Cuts are clean, minimal blood."

"How would she get her hands on a weapon like that?" Assault asked. "It'd have to cost a pretty penny."

"There's only one villain in the city who would do it," said Armsy.

Coil, Sophia thought. That's who Armsy's talking about. She supposed it made sense. Hebert would have been totally lost after Hookwolf offed her dad. She didn't even last a night before getting conscripted by a gang. How lame.

Assault pursed his lips. "Well, I suppose it could be worse. She could be a lone wolf seeking revenge on the empire. From what we've gathered, the empire started the fight tonight."

"She dismembered two capes and a dozen more non-powered individuals. She's raising the stakes and threatening an outburst of violent retribution."

Assault shrugged. "I'm just saying that I feel better knowing that this was violent self-defence rather than a vigilante-inspired crusade to clean up the streets." He even made air quotes to express what he thought of that idea. What an asshole.

Armsy nodded slowly. "There is that."

"We'll just have to keep an eye on the situation," said Armsy.

Sophia contained her snort of derision. That's all the PRT and the Protectorate did - watch. They were useless.

"We should stress to the teams not to engage Zephyr in any form of combat." Assault stared at the violence. "I would hate to see what would happen if she got into a fight with the wards. I think she has a counter for every single one of them."

It was Sophia's turn to purse her lips. That was true. Hebert had like a gazillion powers - one of them being to shoot electricity from her hands. Between that, the thinker power, and the mover power, Sophia wouldn't have a chance at taking her - not without serious backup.

"Interesting that she chose a short-range weapon for a tinker device," Assault was saying.

"Not really," said Sophia. "She can move fast and already has the lightning. A killer sword would give her the edge in melee combat against fast-moving brutes."

"It's impressive she took out Night and Fog," said Assault. "They're a mean combination, and if the reports are accurate, they even managed to ambush Zephyr. Which meant that she single-handedly recovered from an ambush against two very dangerous and powerful capes whose power sets synergize well together."

"They probably weren't expecting the tinker device," Armsy said. "I expect the outcome would have been different if she were not so armed."

They wrapped up the crime scene investigation before returning to base.

~~JH~~

I hadn't needed thinker powers to know that Marissa had been disturbed and frightened by my display of gruesome violence. Truthfully, I didn't even know why I had done that to the empire goon that had been watching me. After I killed Night and Fog, I realized that the empire was recording everything so they could analyze it for my weaknesses. I'd just been so angry. Night and Fog would have killed me if I hadn't had my lightsaber with me. Now they knew about it - would I have to keep acquiring new skills and tinker gadgets to keep one step ahead of them? Was I now locked into an arms race with no end? A vision of me standing aboard the bridge of my super star destroyer as I watched a base delta zero being conducted on a planet below flashed through my mind. I internally shuddered. Was that where I was headed?

"I'm sorry," I said finally as we entered the apartment.

"You keep saying that," said Marissa tiredly. "But nothing changes, Taylor."

I nodded. "It's not going to end. I stared out the window. "I would have died tonight if I hadn't had my lightsaber. They were videoing the whole thing so that, if I survived, they could analyze my strengths and weaknesses. The next time, they'll be more prepared. They nearly got me last time too. What do I have to do to keep us safe?"

"Taylor," said Marissa sharply. "Don't deflect. You pulverized that man into a fine paste. Why would you do that? Why would you think that was even remotely okay?"

"I was angry," I said.

"So?" Marissa exploded with anger. She began pacing agitatedly about the room. "You were angry? Fine. I'm angry too. But people don't go around splattering other people's guts every which way just because they're angry."

"Hookwolf did it," I said mildly, but inside my guts were churning. I knew it was wrong. In the moment though, I had channeled that other - Vader - and the complete destruction of my enemies in a grotesque and violent manner was child's play.

"Since when did that become your standard?" She stopped and stared at me, and the feel of her disappointment made me feel like I was two feet tall. Instinctively, I wanted to lash out, and it took serious willpower to keep from doing that. How dare she talk to me this way...

"You're right," I said. The words were bitter, but I held onto them. She was right, and I had to acknowledge that fact.

"You can't keep saying that," said Marissa. "You need to change, Taylor. I don't know how to help you if you're not willing to change."

The thought that she might break up with me flared in my mind, and a panic rose up within me so intense it threatened to drown out all other thoughts. "I'll do better. I promise. Please," I said, looking her in the eye, "give me one more chance." The temptation to use my power to make her agree was almost overwhelming. I couldn't do that. If she found out, she would never forgive me.

No one would find out though... "I- I have to go," I said. I moved toward the door.

"What do you mean you have to go?" Marissa said. "We're not done talking."

She didn't understand, I thought, and I couldn't explain it. I couldn't utter the words that I didn't trust myself not to... hurt her.

I ran to the door, but Marissa was closer, and she intercepted me. I raised my hand to force push her away, but then she was tackling me - holding me in place - and slowly, with supreme force of will, I lowered my hand, and then returned her hug.

"I don't trust myself," I said. "I have all this anger inside me, Marissa. I'm afraid. I'm afraid I'll hurt you." There, I thought. I said it.

I waited for the inevitable backlash - for the rejection. I fortified myself for the result - told myself it was the right result if I were to truly protect her - to not let this madness burn those I cared about any longer.

"I trust you," said Marissa, still holding me. "You don't have to go, Taylor. I don't want you to go. I want you to... to try. Really, seriously, sincerely try. Not just do whatever you want and then apologize after."

I closed my eyes. She felt amazing. I thought I could stand there forever holding her and being held by her. The warmth between us was a salve for my pain. I knew deep down that I should go; that to stay would mean putting her life at risk. "Okay," I said. "I'll stay. I'll do better. I'll... try." The certainty that I projected in my voice felt like a lie. Maybe if I said it enough times, it would become true.

~~JH~~

"We have a problem," said Trickster without preamble.

It was the next morning and the entire crew of Travelers had barged into Marissa's apartment. I took a seat on the loveseat next to Marissa.

He continued, "Zephyr was attacked last night by two empire capes."

I felt Marissa's sudden embarrassment through the force. It took a moment for me to wrap my head around the problem - we hadn't notified either the team or Coil.

Trickster seemed to bore into us with his gaze. The others looked equally unhappy.

"It was an accident," said Marissa. "I mean-" I sensed her brace herself, "-Taylor and I had a fight about it. She dealt with the capes and their non-powered support in a brutal manner. The fight - we just lost track of ourselves. I'm sorry. It won't happen again."

"I've resigned myself to hearing Zephyr make excuses for her conduct," said Trickster. "Now I have to hear it from you too?"

Marissa looked down. Shame was radiating off her. I wanted to interrupt, but I couldn't think of anything to say to diffuse the tension. My power was whispering to me ways I could nudge Trickster's thoughts and emotions to smooth the way past this argument, but I held back. I hadn't given in to using my master powers on allies yet, and I was not going to. I glanced over at Marissa. Besides, if I started for little things like dealing with Trickster, how long would it be before I was using it to bend Marissa to my will?

I focused my attention on Trickster and the others, and slowly the knowledge that this was more than just an issue of not reporting in filtered into my head. "A situation has arisen," I said firmly. "What is it?"

"One of their non-powered members who were at the scene," said Trickster, "was a higher-up in the organization. Apparently, they thought that, because they were non-powered and only observing, they wouldn't be attacked."

"Those psychos were recording the entire attack," I said. "I wasn't just going to stand by and let them film me being murdered."

"Did you have to spray paint him across two hundred square feet of ground?" snapped Trickster.

"I got this lecture from Marissa yesterday," I said evenly, not allowing myself to be shamed into submission. "I understand it was wrong. It was in the heat of the moment, and I was furious. They attacked me without provocation in my civilian identity. Marissa and I were on a date. Also, there was no call to surrender. They went straight for the kill, and they attempted to kill Marissa just for being near me. She was injured," I went on, "even if she tried to hide it from me for the rest of the evening."

She looked at me, startled. "How did you know?"

I squeezed her hand. "Your health and well-being are very important to me," I said, looking her in the eyes. "I don't even think I am capable of not being aware of you anymore - even if you were on the other side of the world."

Her mouth opened in a soft oh of surprise. The temptation to lean in and kiss her was almost overwhelming.

"Touching," said Trickster dryly. "Can we get back to the matter at hand? Zephyr apparently not only survived being immersed in a highly toxic poisonous fog, but also engaged in combat with a powerful brute-changer in the process." He gave me an inscrutable look before going on, "Which has apparently thrown the empire and their Gesellschaft allies into a bit of an uproar."

I nodded thoughtfully. This was not news. The trap had been well-constructed. They did not know I could flush toxins from my system - why would they? They also couldn't have predicted that I would have a weapon capable of skewering Night with ease.

"Apparently," Trickster went on in his lecturing tone, "the recording devices were live-streaming to the empire. Early in the morning, the empire released the video to PHO. The footage has been cut in such a way so as to make it look like Zephyr lopped off the capes heads without provocation before proceeding to go on a rampage and horribly murder a bunch of innocent civilians. You can't even tell that the victims were empire. Basically, PHO is exploding in an outpouring of hate-filled condemnation against you."

Okay, I thought. That sounded really bad. "Those capes tried to kill me."

"Were they trying to kill you when you cut off their heads?" asked Ballistic.

"No," I said resignedly. "No, they were not."

"So they might have been surrendering," replied Trickster. "But none of that matters. It only matters that, based on the video, you chopped up a couple of capes without provocation. That alone might have been okay. The capes will obviously be traced back to the empire. But going after the civilians is crossing a line."

"So I'm a pariah," I said. "Is that what you're telling me?"

"Don't make light of the problem," said Marissa. "This is serious."

Trickster nodded. "Finally, you're saying something sensible." He turned back to me. "The Travelers can't take this kind of heat. Your actions are going to get us killed. The only saving grace in the whole mess is that there's no video of Mars."

"No video we know of," added Ballistic grimly. "It's possible the empire knows but just left it out of the video that was uploaded."

"I've watched the video," said Jess quietly, "and I have a question."

"Go ahead," I said, already knowing that I wasn't going to like it.

"When you killed those people in the apartment, did you feel anything?"

Satisfaction, was the first thing that came to mind, but I had the sense not to say that aloud.

"Because," Jess went on, "It looked to me like you were... bored. So you see, the only one that looks like a psycho in this whole thing is you."

Strange, I thought. Feelings of shame, humiliation, and embarrassment tended to evoke a visceral rage response, but being called a psycho... I felt nothing.

I took a moment to formulate my thoughts as the others waited for my answer. "I've lived in Brockton for my whole life," I said. "During all that time, the empire's been here. They've seeped into so much of the life here that I can't even imagine a Brockton Bay without the empire. Truthfully, if the empire had left me alone, I would have left them alone. Even after they killed my dad, I was prepared to move on." I looked each of them in the eye before saying, "but last night, it became clear to me that the empire wasn't going to let me go. They had no reason to come after me. I wasn't threatening them. I had no plans to go after them. But that didn't stop them from organizing, planning and executing an ambush meant to kill me as fast as possible. They made their intention clear. They're going to kill me, and they're going to throw all their resources into it."

I went on as I warmed to the topic. "And they have a lot of resources. They couldn't kill me last night, so they're going to try to paint me as a deranged serial killer. Have you even asked why they had set up a recording facility in one of those apartments? Did they just happen to have that stuff lying around? They've been waiting there for who knows how many days or weeks for me to happen to show up. There's no telling how many of those apartments they have as they wait to ambush me. It doesn't matter if I use restraint. All that means is that there'll be more capes to return to them to fight me later. They're going to paint me as a monster no matter what I do. It's all part of the narrative they want to spin. They've been doing the same thing to the blacks and the Jews and the Asians for as long as I can remember. It's how they fight. It's how they win."

"You're making it easy for them," said Marissa.

"No," I countered. "I'm just speeding things up." My words had the ring of truth to it, and I realized the force was agreeing with me. "There's only one way this can end, between me and the empire," I said. "Either I die, or they die."

"They're a huge organization," said Ballistic pensively. "I don't think we can take them on."

"Coil intends to," I said. "That's what this has all been leading to."

"Well, it sounds like the problem is coming to a head," said Trickster, seizing control of the conversation once more. "The empire has connected you to Coil, which means that you're radioactive as far as Coil is concerned."

"That's why you're meeting me here," I said in realization. "I'm not allowed back at the base."

"Yes, but it's more complicated than that," said Trickster. "The empire has issued a demand to Coil. As recompense for the death of the civilians, he must either deliver one hundred million dollars, or he must deliver your head."

I closed my eyes. Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck. "What – what was his response?"

At first, he didn't respond. His aura darkened perceptibly as he said, "This is a mess of your making. You never should have killed those civilians. Killing non-capes is a big no-no in this business. Now you're going to have to own up to it and fix your mistake."

"Yes," I began hesitantly. I already knew I wasn't going to like what came next. "But how? How does Coil expect me to fix it?"

Trickster cleared his throat. "He wants you to exterminate the empire. More specifically, he wants you to kill all their capes."

My mind froze at Trickster's proclamation. Coil wanted me to kill all the empire's capes. The thought felt absurd – impossible, even, and yet the feeling of expectation remained. When my mind finally rebooted, it was clear that the others were as shocked. Marissa – there were no words to describe the mix of emotions.

"That'll turn the whole world against Taylor," she said in a strained voice. "She can't – she won't. Coil can't expect that of her."

"He can, he will and he does," replied Trickster roughly. "Maybe now you'll get a clue, Mars. This is a serious business. Taylor's raised the stakes. She's changed the game."

"They tried to kill her first," Marissa exclaimed. "They've attacked her four times now. Every time – every single fucking time they tried to kill her without even trying to talk."

"Cape on cape violence is one thing," said Ballistic quietly. "Killing civies is another. That's the territory of groups like the Nine. That's the message Zephyr's sending out."

"You throw the rulebook out," added Jess, "it gives licence for others to do the same."

"They came into Taylor's home and killed Taylor's dad," replied Marissa in a low, angry voice. "Don't go taking their side."

Jess' expression softened. "I'll never be on anyone else's side. We're a team. But think about it. People don't know exactly what happened that night at Zephyr's home." She gave me an apologetic glance before continuing. "People think that her dad's death was an accident. Some even say that Zephyr brought it on herself for attacking Rune in the first place."

"That's ridiculous." Marissa gave me a quick, assessing glance to see how I was taking it.

"It's called public relations," replied Trickster.

"You're not – I'm doing this alone, aren't I." It wasn't even a question. I knew that this was how it was going to be.

"Yes," said Trickster without a hint of sympathy. "Your mess, your problem."

My thoughts still seemed to be circling around that idea – kill all the empire's capes. It was as though this path was familiar to me. Oh yeah. My dreams. The ones at the beginning. Those had been the worst, but my lack of context had been a blessing. I had been walking down a corridor, my red lightsaber casting an eerie glow on the men and women that were fleeing. I ran them down. I was the instrument of their demise . I was death incarnate. But it was more than that. It was the feeling that lived inside me. The death was just the beginning. It was the void where my heart should have been – as though whatever passed for a soul inside had suffered a kind of heat death.

My attention returned to the argument that was still going on between Marissa and Trickster. He was holding up a USB key which apparently contained the civilian identities of all the empire's capes.

"I'll do it." My words stopped Marissa's blistering retort in its tracks.

She stared at me with wide, betrayed eyes.

"Coil's right," I said absently. "Didn't I already say that this can only end with either me or the empire dead? Didn't I already say that I was prepared to speed this process up? Coil's just giving me what I want." I summoned the USB key to my hand and held the unassuming data chip between thumb and forefinger. "What will the rest of you be doing?"

"We're defending the base in case you fail."

If the location of the base were compromised, Coil would bait a trap for his enemies and blow the place up. I was sure of it. I wouldn't have been surprised if he had other bolt holes stashed away in the city in case of such an event. I would just have to make sure I didn't give him cause to activate his failsafe.

~~JH~~

I didn't have a cape outfit exactly. I wore dark, form-fitting tinker clothes that accentuated my toned physique. I also wore a charcoal cloak with a hood that could help shadow my face. I didn't need it exactly, but the cloak felt familiar. It also wasn't totally unusual as a form of outer wear. People did give me curious looks though. They probably recognized that there was something subtly off about my outfit. It wasn't the sort of thing one would wear to school or work. And judging from the expensive look of the building I was entering, it wasn't the sort of thing the people here would wear. The area was expensive enough that it didn't look unusual for the only residents to be white.

I barely glanced at the codes on the buzzer panel. I didn't need them anyway. The latch to the inner door opened itself, and a moment later I was through.

"I'm looking for Kayden Anders," I said casually to the concierge.

He frowned a moment, before checking his system and saying in a monotone, "Unit 902."

"Thanks, friend."

The foyer was empty, and the elevator opened without pause. Everyone was probably already at work. That was good. It would make this process easier. I took a moment to map out the internal workings of the elevator as I rode up. It wasn't necessary but rather something I was just doing as I further learned about the intricacies of my power.

Before I knew it, I was knocking on the front door. The television was faintly playing in the background. There were two people inside -a teenage boy with a dull mind and a baby. The boy I didn't know about, but the baby would be Aster Anders – Purity's daughter. The boy made no move to open the door. Probably instructed to not open the door to anyone.

No matter, I thought. I slid the deadbolt back ever so gently and opened the door. I was fully inside with the door slamming shut behind me before Theo knew anything was wrong. He nearly leapt off the floor, the game controller tumbling from his fingers as he turned to look up at me. He blinked several times before saying, "Who – who are you?" His gaze caught on the unlocked door as he tried to puzzle out how I'd gotten in. I could almost read the faint hope that I was a friend of Kayden's who just happened to have a key.

"I'm a friend of Kayden's," I said casually. The boy studied me a moment as if he could read from my expression whether I was lying.

Something about my body language must have given me away, because he tensed further. His gaze turned to the crib where Aster was playing. "What – what are you doing here?"

"I'm here to check up on Aster and see how she's doing."

He looked around, and I knew that the jig was up. He was looking for something he could use to defend himself.

"Mrs. Anders never would have agreed to you doing that," he said tremulously. The, now forgotten, game character he had been playing was slowly being eaten by zombies on the television. He sprinted for the phone, but I was already there, my lightsaber out and activated, the tip of the blade burning through the phone cord. The boy dropped the receiver and stepped back in terror.

"There's no need for that," I said in that same casual tone. "We're just going to have a little chat while we wait for Kayden."

The boy whimpered.

~~JH~~

A vague feeling of unease filled Kayden as she approached her apartment door. The empire and their Gesellschaft allies were planning to put an end to Zephyr once and for all, which meant that she would almost certainly have to be called away at a moment's notice to participate in any sudden battles. It would all depend on what Coil's response would be to the ultimatum. Surely he would see sense and cut his losses by handing over Zephyr. It wasn't as though Coil or Zephyr were in a position to take on the empire-

Kayden paused as she stared with concern at the key she'd just turned. There'd been no resistance as she'd tried unlocking the door… but that would mean the door was already unlocked. Theo would never do that.

Her unease suddenly crescendoed into alarm. She threw her groceries to one side and slammed the door open. So focused was she on looking for Aster that she spent seconds staring at the crib without realizing there was a stranger standing in her apartment.

"Ahem."

Kayden's gaze shot to the right where a teenage girl stood next to the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the courtyard. She was tall and slim and wore form-fitting dark clothes that hinted at a toned physique. There was no mask, but there was no mistaking that Kayden was looking at a cape. And not just any cape.

"Zephyr." Her mind was running a mile a minute. How'd the girl know where she lived? Kayden flashed back to that moment where she'd delivered what James had always called her alpha strike – a beam powerful enough to level a building. She hadn't followed what had happened in those scant seconds between the time she'd delivered the killing blow and the time that everything went to hell. She only knew that, once again, Zephyr had defied all expectations and had turned their victory into defeat yet again.

"In the flesh," the girl replied. She made a show of looking around. "Nice place you got here."

"What are you doing here?" The words spilled out angrily. "You can't be here. You're breaking the rules. This is my home."

"Hypocrite." An amused little smile played on the girl's face, but there was no mistaking the aura of dark menace that surrounded her.

"Where's my baby?"

Zephyr raised an eyebrow. "What baby?"

Purity flared her aura and flew at top speed to the bedroom – the only place where Aster could be in the apartment. Before she made it, her world seemed to explode in pain as she was telekinetically grabbed and thrown through the stainless steel fridge door. Purity tore herself free of the wrecked appliance and whirled on Zephyr, who hadn't moved. She charged up her powers and began firing at the nuisance. Zephyr blurred into motion, a laser sword suddenly in her hands. Two, three, four blasts were sent hurtling toward Zephyr, but somehow, she deflected each one with her sword, sending the bolts flying in all directions. One obliterated her stove. Another the tv.

Kayden made a strafing run for the bedroom, but had to backpedal as Zephyr was suddenly there, swinging the sword at her head. She fired off another six bolts in half as many seconds, but that damned laser sword seemed to always be there, turning her apartment into a warzone. One blast punched through the reinforced concrete wall and into the neighbouring apartment where an elderly couple stared back wide-eyed.

"Get the fuck away from me you crazy bitch!" Kayden screamed as she tried again and failed to get past Zephyr. She tried to gather her energy for a building-levelling beam – something that Zephyr could not deflect, but she was not giving her even a second to breathe. The moment Kayden stopped firing, Zephyr was on her, swinging that blade in swift, precise arcs.

That's the weapon that killed Night and Fog, Kayden realized as she burned through the sofa to try to escape the blade. But before she could evade fully, she was struck in the back by something that forced her into the arc of the blade. Kayden screamed as the weapon carved through her hip, severing the limb just below the joint.

She exploded with power, sending a wave of energy in all directions as she half-stumbled half-flew backward to put distance between her and her attacker. She needed to get to Aster. This thought loomed in her mind, blotting out all other thoughts. Purity turned and bolted for the bedroom door, suddenly heedless of any other danger. She hit the door like a laser beam, her aura burning through it as she tumbled inside. By the time she collapsed on the ground, she realized that her right arm had been severed at the elbow. Strange, she didn't feel pain.

Aster was there, and so was Theo. To her shame, she'd almost forgotten about the boy in her worry for her daughter. Theo was propped up against the footboard. Aster was cradled protectively in his lap. Both of them had their eyes closed and were unmoving.

No, Kayden thought as the idea percolated in her mind that Aster was too still. NO, it can't be. She tumbled forward, using her power to fly, but still not having quite the right balance with two limbs missing. She reached one hand out to grasp at her child. If she could get a grip on her, she could fly them through the wall and out of here. It took Kayden a second to make sense of the sudden green glow that painted Aster's face. She looked down and stared blankly at the bar of burning green light that jutted out of her torso.

No, Kayden thought. This can't be happening. She refused to believe it. She couldn't be dying. She just couldn't be. Who would take care of Aster?

Her vision was going blurry. Was she crying? Why was she crying? Kayden's thoughts drifted as her shock deepened. She couldn't stop staring at the green bar of death. It grew larger and larger until it filled her vision completely. For a moment, all she saw was that brilliant green, and then, she saw nothing at all.

~~JH~~

Kaiser stared disbelievingly at the TV monitor, which was playing the local news.

"To repeat, we have just received confirmation of the identities of every single member of the villain organization known as Empire Eighty-Eight. The head of the organization, known in his cape persona as Kaiser, is none other than Brockton native and CEO of Medhall, Maxwell Anders…"

It didn't make sense. All Coil had to do was give up the girl. It couldn't be that he was more afraid of her than of the entire empire. That was ridiculous, or at least it should have been ridiculous.

What empire though? A traitorous thought inside his own head murmured. You're down seven capes already.

"But I have money," he muttered. "And a huge network of other resources. I could call in mercenaries… yes, yes… cape mercenaries." There were several teams out there that would be prepared to take on a cape like Zephyr. What was ten or twenty million if it meant ridding himself of her? Now that he thought about it, he should have just done that from the start. Except for Gesellschaft. He glanced at Duro, who gazed with mild sympathy at his situation. No, he thought. That wasn't sympathy. The fucker was smug. And why not? Duro didn't owe him anything. He narrowed his eyes in contemplation. They were here for a reason. Why hadn't he ever probed more deeply into their motives before? Duro and his team had been here for weeks. Gesellschaft had capes to spare, but stationing an entire team of capes in Brockton Bay indefinitely was unnecessary. They knew something, he realized. But what was it? What did they know that justified their interest in Zephyr?

Fuck. For all he knew, they'd anticipated his downfall. Maybe they were even counting on it. The urge to spear Duro through the kidneys and watch him bleed to death was nearly overwhelming. But no, that was ridiculous. He had no proof. It was just paranoid supposition. He needed to focus on the immediate threat. He could deal with any greater plot against him once he survived this new setback.

The PRT would almost certainly be coming for him. That damnable NEPIA 5. Section 27 gave the government wide powers to seize businesses connected to organized cape crime. The PRT would descend on Medhall like a pack of ravenous hyenas. He wished he'd paid extra to install the building-wide self-destruct system. He hadn't only because he'd feared that a tinker or master or some other cape could use it against him.

"Sir," said his receptionist, who stepped hesitantly into the room. "You have a call."

"I told you I don't want to be-"

"It's the Director of the PRT, sir," she cut in quickly, now clearly terrified at her own intrusion. She glanced at the TV monitor, which was now scrolling through a list of the entire roster of empire capes before averting her eyes.

The PRT Director. His impulse was to not take the call. But then again his curiosity was aroused. He was expecting a storm of PRT troopers and their cape flunkies – not a phone call from the director herself. An errant vision of being time locked by that clown, Clockblocker, made him grimace. He would rather go down with dignity.

Reluctantly, he reached out and picked up the receiver on his phone. He tapped the button for Line 1 and said, "Anders speaking." Funny, he thought, how his tone and voice remained the same despite the collapse of everything he'd ever built.

"Am I speaking to Kaiser?" Director Piggot's voice was no-nonsense but he imagined the sly expression on her face as she asked that question.

"Director, you are breaching the rules-"

"Is. This. Kaiser?"

"Yes." He would make a point of filling her fat mouth with steel one day, and he would enjoy watching her gag to death on it.

"Purity is dead," said Piggot. Her voice was steady and pitiless as she spoke. "Your two children are in custody under master-stranger protocols. It appears that Zephyr went to her home and killed her after putting the children into some sort of trance. We assume that Zephyr is coming for you, and we believe you are in serious danger. We are sending over a PRT contingent to take you into custody. This is in part for your protection. I'm calling to find out if you will submit quietly. We have no interest in getting in a three-way firefight with you and Zephyr. Please decide now."

Purity was dead. Kaiser had trouble following the rest of the speech. Purity. Their most powerful blaster. The most powerful blaster short of Legend himself. Dead. That left him with Stormtiger, Fenja and Menja… and-

He hung up the phone and turned to Duro. "What of Krieg? Is he fit to stand and fight?"

"He is being released from containment as we speak." Duro grimaced. "We had hoped to have more time. Our healers are not as quick as your Panacea."

The door opened again. This time, Stormtiger, Fenja and Menja crowded into his office. "She's here," Stormtiger began without preamble. "Security has laid as many traps as they can. Several of our men are here and outfitted with as much firepower as we can give them."

The way Stormtiger spoke, it was clear he didn't believe any of it would be enough. The faint sound of gunfire from far down below could be heard. In the moments between, Kaiser thought he heard his men screaming.

Kaiser turned his attention back to Stormtiger, who had turned to Duro. "We wish to formally join Gesellschaft."

Kaiser's mind froze at Stormtiger's words. Stormtiger was leaving him. Fenja and Menja gave him a sideways glance, but they were clearly with Stormtiger on this point. Traitors, his mind raged, but was soon quieted as Stormtiger continued.

"You said you could get us out of here and away from the demon cape."

Duro nodded grimly. "We can. We must hurry and reach our lab. We have erected a teleportation matrix to move freely between here and our home base in the fatherland."

"There's no time," said Stormtiger. "She will be here in minutes."

Duro turned to Kaiser. "We cannot fight this Zephyr here. Inside the building, her power will be at its greatest. We must retreat."

The unspoken question was clear. Would Kaiser retreat with them? The screams of dying men were getting louder.

"Yes." The word was bitter, but the visceral terror that was building inside his gut was quickly supplanting his pride.

They hurried down the hall and down a flight of stairs to the section of the building that had been cleared out for the Gesellschaft lab. The two capes that stood guard stepped aside and then fell into formation behind them as Duro said, "We are enacting the omega contingency."

Their tinkers and shakers had transformed this wing of the floor into something out of a sci-fi movie. The walls gleamed with a polished, alien metal. There were doors where there had not been doors before. Duro led them to a large room at the end of the hall. Inside technicians of various kinds were busy working.

"We are leaving," said Duro at the startled glances of the occupants. "Pack what you can in the next 30 seconds."

"But what about the specimen?"

"It stays here," said Duro. "We have no choice. We cannot take it with us. It may very well be needed to buy us time for our escape."

"But it is not complete," cried one of the technicians. "We have only grafted three other lobes to its brainstem."

Duro sighed. "Did you induce additional powers in the specimen?"

"Yes, but-"

"Release it," cut in Duro with the first note of impatience. "We will all die otherwise."

The techs complied. But Kaiser had barely been paying attention. He walked up to the glass tube in which the specimen floated in an electric blue solution. He raised one hand to the surface of the glass and touched it. "My old friend," Kaiser murmured, as he now recognized Krieg's one good eye as he stared back at him. The other eye had been replaced by something utterly inhuman. The pulsating black substance that now passed for his lower jaw peeled back to reveal rows of needle-sharp obsidian teeth. The suspension fluid slowly drained away. It was clearly tinker-made, as it was bizarre enough that not a single drop remained in the tube once drained.

"I suggest you step away from the subject," said Duro mildly. "I cannot be certain whether they completed entering in the shaping protocols."

Kaiser took several hasty steps to the side, and not a moment too soon. Krieg smashed his way out of the glass and sneered at them.

"You said you would heal Krieg." Kaiser could not quite keep the accusation out of his voice.

"We did." Duro shrugged. "I believe you Americans use a funny word for our healers. You call them… biotinkers."

"Will Krieg be able to stop Zephyr?" Maybe something could be salvaged from this mess. Maybe he wouldn't have to flee.

Krieg's gaze sharpened as he swiveled to face the door. His other eye seemed to track something unerringly through the walls.

"Ah," said Duro, pleased. "Its senses are enhanced, as is its native strength. Gesellschaft has taken parahumanism to new heights in its search for the ubermensch. One day we may all be so lucky as to benefit from such advances."

Kaiser suppressed his revulsion at Duro's words. He resolved never to let himself be caught in the hands of a biotinker. Ever.

"The matrix is ready. We have established a point to point quantum tunnel between-"

"Enough with the babble and let us get moving," said Duro. He shoved one of the scientists through the portal and then let Stormtiger, Fenja and Menja through before gesturing to Kaiser. "After you."

The door shattered inward in a spray of shrapnel. The girl, Zephyr, moved so fast that the first thing Kaiser registered was the luminous green bar of contained plasma less than a foot from his neck. As fast as Zephyr was, Krieg was just as fast. Faster, perhaps. He had interposed a long black staff that had uncurled from his bicep and locked into place just in time to save Kaiser's life. The staff crackled with energy where it came into contact with Zephyr's laser sword. With a flex of Krieg's muscles, he drove her back.

Duro was urging him to move – to go through the portal and escape to safety – but he couldn't. Not yet. He needed to see for himself the person who had so casually dismantled his life. And what he saw of her was terrifying. She and Krieg hacked and slashed ferociously. Their blades clashed three, four, sometimes even five times in a second. Each time, sparks of eye-watering light exploded like fireworks as they probed each other's defences relentlessly for a weakness – to deliver that one blow that would cripple or kill their enemy. It was unlike any cape fight Kaiser had ever seen. Not even his brush with the Nine had borne witness to such a display of raw, naked violence stripped of any veneer of civilization. And yet, despite the instinctual level at which the combatants operated, their movement seemed somehow choreographed, as though he were watching an exquisitely performed ballet and not a brutal death match. Krieg was unbridled fury, each blow capable of smashing concrete. Zephyr meanwhile was swift and precise, her moves seeming almost delicate in their gracefulness.

Between one eyeblink and the next, the fight was over. Zephyr had speared through Krieg's left knee. She twisted her blade, causing the limb to separate in a slurry of black ooze. Even then Krieg turned and tried to take her head off. She sidestepped the blow nimbly, capitalizing on his lack of mobility to drag her blade through his wrist. Krieg roared in rage and pain. He threw himself in one last attempt to take Zephyr down. She moved so fast she may as well have teleported. Ruthlessly, systematically, implacably, she dismembered Krieg. Her final act was to drive her blade through his one eye socket, cooking his brain in the process.

"Mein Freund," urged Duro. "We must leave.

Kaiser let himself be dragged through the portal. He felt a sensation of having his windpipe constricted for a fraction of a second. Then he was through the portal to safety.


	5. Chapter 5

Beta: Edale

Arc 5: There is Knowledge

I brought my lightsaber down in a series of short, quick strokes. Each flowed into the next. Each was light and meant to deflect rather than negate. Form III. Soresu. Without conscious thought, I slipped into form V, the delicate and graceful deflection of my imagined opponent's blade leaving an opening that I capitalized on with murderous intent. My blade was already carving through my imagined enemy's flesh before I realized I had even switched styles.

I paused, my blade still outstretched as I remembered performing this exact maneuver back at Medhall. One of the guards had foolishly gotten in my way. I remembered the gentle feel of the resistance as the blade carved through flesh and body armor alike.

I drew myself back to a guard position, but did not start again. Instead, I let myself drift both in my thoughts and in the force. So much had happened in the past two and a half months, it was hard to believe sometimes.

I forced my thoughts back to that day when the trio had shoved me into the locker. It was hard to think about those times. It wasn't just that it was unpleasant, it was as if my power hated thinking about it. My power…. It hated weakness in all things, but above all, it hated weakness in itself. It hated weakness in me. It felt like there was so much to unpack in that notion that I didn't even know where to begin. Back then, before everything went to hell, I had just been relieved to have powers. I had craved them so much I hadn't really stopped to question why. And even when the oddities continued to mount, I still didn't question. I didn't have any reason to think that my powers were strange. For all I knew, everyone had complicated issues with their powers, and it was a thing that just wasn't talked about.

But now, I had a little more perspective, and I was slowly coming to the realization that there was something not quite right about my power. Or, maybe, there was something not quite right about me. I honestly couldn't say which idea was more worrying.

"You can come in," I said as I deactivated my lightsaber.

Marissa hesitated before stepping into the practice room. "Coil wants us." Her voice was smaller and more tentative than I remembered ever hearing it before.

"Does your power," I began suddenly, "did it… come with memories?"

The vague hope I had that maybe I wasn't unusual died even before she spoke. "No."

"Mine did," I went on. I deactivated my lightsaber and hooked it to my belt. I turned and looked at her. "And not just one or two memories. It's a whole lifetime's worth. It's a whole personality." I had never said these things to anyone before. I had barely even been willing to think it in my own head. I couldn't finish saying out loud my thoughts and feelings. Was this other person who had taken up space in my head – this Lord Vader – here to stay permanently? Would I become more and more like him everyday? It felt like, the more I used my powers, the more I let my anger fill me, the closer to the surface he came, and every time he did, he lingered a little longer. Even now, it felt like that violence was close to the surface. Like it was simmering just beneath my skin, and ready to be unleashed at the drop of a hat.

Something about my words seemed to cause a swell of fear in Marissa. Only, it wasn't directed at me, but rather it was diffuse and nebulous, as if I had touched on a trigger for her own emotional insecurities.

"Come on," she said, visibly compressing her emotions back down. "We should go."

I fell into step alongside her. I gave her a sideways glance as we walked. "Are you angry with me?" I asked finally.

"No, yes, I don't know."

"Mmm, that clears things up."

"Let's not talk about it now. We should focus on the meeting with Coil."

"You've been avoiding me."

"I've been… not avoiding you exactly," she said. "I just needed some time to think."

Before I could peel back any more of her defences, we arrived at Coil's office where the others had already congregated.

Coil did not hesitate to dive in. "Now that the empire's power has been broken, other gangs will be looking to muscle in on their territory. I'm not just talking about the ABB. I'm also talking about gangs from Boston and even further afield. In some instances, individual villains may even team up to form a new gang to come here if they think there's a place for them to establish themselves. For all the empire's faults, they maintained stability in the Bay. If we do not act to assert ourselves, we'll be inviting more conflict with other gangs. None of them will have the same level of investment in the city, and many of them are simply crazier and more violent than the empire. For example, I have it on good authority that the Teeth are interested in setting up shop here. I'm certain that no one wants that."

"So you want us to assume the empire's territory?" Trickster asked. There was no mistaking the dubiousness in his tone.

"Yes."

"But… does that mean we have to become Nazis?" Trickster looked around at the rest of us as if trying to picture us as the new face of the empire. "I mean, wouldn't all their territory be held together by Nazi ideology?"

"That's not the way it works," said Coil impatiently. "Only a very small number of the empire was dedicated to a political position. Many can be swayed by the promise of work and profit in the same areas that the empire engaged in."

"You mean drugs and guns," I said flatly.

"Less drugs and more extortion, actually. The empire promised protection to its members first and foremost. Only then did it indulge in feeding their vices. I don't care about the drugs. But you will seize and control the territory and defend it from any capes that try to take it from you. In fact, I would go so far as to say that you should refrain from selling drugs. Gambling, guns and extortion are all acceptable and encouraged."

"But," said Marissa hesitantly. "I don't know how to do any of that."

"Learn," replied Coil dismissively. "You'll have assistance through my network. Besides, it will not be hard. Both the PRT and other villains – namely Lung – will seek to test your defences. Your success will be measured in relation to your ability to repel these attacks and keep the people in your territory safe."

"It's your territory," I said suddenly.

"Excuse me?" He turned to look at me directly.

"The territory – it's not ours," I explained. "You want us to pretend it is. Why?"

"This city can be roughly divided into four camps. The empire and the ABB held the largest portions of territory. I held the third largest with the Merchants last. Since you went on a killing spree in Merchant territory, the Merchants have become even less relevant, and their territory has been slowly subsumed by the ABB. If I am known to consume the empire's territory, then I will be seen to be the largest and most powerful villain in the Bay, as far as the PRT is concerned. That level of conspicuousness is counterproductive to our long-term goals."

I nodded slowly. Coil's strategy made sense. I felt an echo of approval from my alternate as well. The PRT would be far less concerned with multiple smaller gangs than they would with one larger gang. This was an aspect of cape politics that I had not given much thought to before. The gangs had a sort of détente with the PRT, but did that blade cut both ways? If the gangs had a natural growth rate, did that mean that the PRT had one too? I would have to meditate on it, and consider what it meant for me in the larger picture.

Coil went on to discuss details before wrapping up the meeting. However, as the rest of the Travelers were filing out, I held back, sensing that Coil had something more to say. Marissa glanced back questioningly at me, but I waved her on, and gently nudged the door closed with my power after she was gone.

"We cannot hold the Bay by ourselves," Coil said. "It's time."

Ah, I thought with understanding. Dinah Alcott.

"You want me to collect her."

"Does it bother you?" he asked.

I exhaled as I thought about it. Did abducting a twelve year old girl bother me? I looked Coil in the eyes and said, "Are you certain this will help make the Bay safer?"

"Yes." There was no hesitation in Coil's voice nor in his force aura. He believed this one fact above all else. "You can't just chop off Butcher's head like you're doing with your other enemies. As powerful as you are, you can be taken down. No one is invulnerable. That's the nature of powers. And that means that every cape sociopath will be looking your way now and wondering if they're the one with that special something that can get past your defences. The Bay's going to turn into a charnel house if we don't take preventative measures."

In a way, Coil was not unlike the empire. Perhaps, in another world, if the empire had not been so baldly racist, I might have joined them. And yet they were what they were, and I was here where I was.

"I will retrieve her," I said finally.

Coil studied me for a long moment before relaxing. "When?"

"Tomorrow."

"It should go without saying, though I find with you it is better to be explicit. Do not be seen. The PRT already believes we are loosely affiliated. I do not want them to have any inkling that I am related to Dinah's abduction."

I nodded and took my leave.

~~JH~~

It was dark, and my force shroud was active as I lightly alighted atop the roof of the Alcott home. My senses were finely honed so that I knew the layout of the house, the location of the inhabitants and what they were doing. I even knew where the security cameras were located and could disable or jam outgoing communications if necessary.

Dinah was in her bedroom. I could tell from her force signature that she was tense yet expectant. That was good. It would make this process easier.

It was the work of a moment to float down to her window, pop the screen and slip through. She had a grim sort of resignation at the sight of me. She was already wearing a windbreaker and had a backpack propped between her legs.

I nodded. Whatever her powers were, it seemed to have aged her. There was a haunted look in her eyes, and there was no nervous or irrelevant chatter between us.

As I helped her through the window and floated us up through the roof, I couldn't help but ask, "Why? Why not just go to the PRT? You knew I was coming."

For a moment, we stood there on her roof, encompassed in a force shroud, Dinah looking at me with her sad eyes. "It makes a difference. Not much… just a little." She shrugged and looked away.

"Difference to what?" I asked.

Dinah did not answer, and my question seemed to hang in the air. The force swirled and grew agitated momentarily before subsiding. And yet, when it did so, it felt as though something had changed. My vision of Dinah had shifted slightly. Gone was the scared young girl. Gone was the cape who was having to catch up in a world that didn't give a fuck about the people who occupied it.

In its own eldritch and inimical way, the force seemed to say that it was its will that brought us together, and it would be its will that eventually cut us apart.

I enclosed us in a force bubble and gently floated us over the houses until we settled on an unlit street three blocks away. A black SUV drove up after a moment, its engine unusually quiet in the otherwise silence. One door opened to reveal a darkened interior. There was the glint of steel – I knew it to be the barrel of a Glock – the kind favoured by Coil's people.

I caught a momentary questioning glance in Dinah's expression before it smoothed away. No doubt she'd used her power to answer her own question.

"I'll check up on you," I said as she scrambled in. "Make sure you're being treated right."

Dinah gave me an inscrutable look that I could not unravel even with the assistance of the force. A moment later, she was gone.

To my chagrin, there was no opportunity to check up on Dinah as she never made it back to Coil's base. It took me nearly a day before having to accept that Coil had squirreled her away somewhere else altogether.

~~JH~~

"Where's Zephyr?"

"Don't know, don't care," grunted the merc.

Trickster gritted his teeth and stormed away from the loading zone where trucks were coming in and out from Coil's base. He had a good mind to just start teleporting his way through the place. He was certain Zephyr was intentionally avoiding him. Her powers were weird enough that she could do it with ease. It was only his finely tuned sixth sense in all matters pertaining to Noelle that had him turning down the empty corridor that led to her room.

Found you, he thought with equal parts irritation and worry. What was she doing near Noelle anyway? The fact that he was looking for her specifically for that purpose when she had already beaten him to the punch only served to increase his unease.

"What are you doing here?" he demanded, though he had the sense to pitch his voice low so as not to disturb Noelle. He was pretty certain that, despite the meter-thick steel door that separated them, Noelle's hearing was acute enough to hear what went on outside.

Zephyr turned to look at him. There was something disconcerting about her stare. He'd noticed it from the beginning, but it had only grown more prominent since then. It was as if she were mentally flaying him alive, peeling back each layer to peer at the insides with the same interest that a boy might have when plucking the wings off a fly. "I'm trying to heal Noelle."

And sell me a bridge while you're at it, he thought. However, he had the presence of mind not to say that aloud. Not that it mattered. Crazy cape was no doubt reading his mind or whatever anyway. "And?" he said, folding his arms. "What have you found out?"

"Not much," she admitted. Her gaze turned back to Noelle and went unfocused.

Christ, he thought. She's fucking seeing through the door or something.

"It would help if I could be in the same room as her. Maybe even touch her."

Those were not entirely unreasonable requests. Trickster had noted in the past that Zephyr's thinker power seemed to be most potent when she was closer to her target. And yet, the idea of giving Zephyr what she wanted – especially when it pertained to Noelle – it raised the hairs on the back of his neck. His instinctive response was to shout her down and tell her to get the hell away from his girl. But no. Zephyr had caused enough fracture lines between him and his group. If he shut her down here, it would only widen those gaps. Better to play along until she revealed her true intentions. That could only work to his advantage in the long run.

Trickster stepped past her, acutely aware of the aura of power that seemed to surround her. He tapped the code on the keypad, and the several tons of steel that separated them from Noelle began to rise.

~~JH~~

It was weird to think that I'd only been a cape for a scant few months. Even weirder when I thought about how I was still only fifteen. I still wasn't old enough to get a driver's licence. I wasn't sure if it were Vader's memories or the force itself, but I felt older in some way I couldn't quite define.

Still, nothing so far had prepared me for the nearly physical wall of power that slammed into me. It took all my effort to keep from showing any sign of strain. Whatever I had gleaned from my brief brushes with her had been from afar, and were a mere echo of whatever the hell was radiating from her directly.

By any objective aesthetic measure she was repulsive. In the force though, she shone like a hideous abomination. The force recoiled from her, twisting in ways that were painful and leaving an ominous void in its wake. I schooled my expression into one of controlled neutrality.

"Well?" asked Trickster impatiently.

"Don't rush me." I reached out with the force and gently touched Noelle's mind. Pain rage hunger guilt shame loneliness – I reeled back. For a moment, something vast and unknowable eclipsed my every sense. It loomed in the force – a colossus so large and powerful that it stood as a giant even in the sea of force energy that surrounded me.

When I managed to get a hold of myself, I realized Trickster was holding me up. We were outside the room – he must have grabbed and dragged me to safety. The door was halfway closed with Noelle pounding her body against the door, shrieking and roaring and wailing simultaneously through all her mouths.

"TRICKSTER BRING HER BACK HERE RIGHT NOW TRICKSTER RIGHT FUCKING NOW!"

For a moment the pounding and stomping stopped. From the last sliver of space at the bottom, her head appeared, her dark eyes devoid of humanity and replaced by a wild, bestial hunger. Our gazes locked. I shivered.

In the next moment, she was sealed away once more. I hastily shrugged Trickster's arm off, only to stumble and collapse to the ground.

For a long moment, my mind blanked as I tried to process what just happened. I felt numb all over. Even the force felt…. There was no word that quite described it. The force felt cold and sluggish.

"What the hell was that?" asked Trickster in a shaky voice.

Even he seemed to be at a loss. I imagined we were both processing the fact that he might have just saved my life. I turned back to stare at the giant steel door and the being that lay beyond. Even now, I felt it reaching out through some sort of nether space that was neither the real world nor the force, but rather some sort of dimension akin to hyperspace.

It was hunting me. Somehow, it gotten my taste through the force, and now it wanted more. And suddenly, in a flash, Noelle's insatiable hunger made sense, as if it were searching for something to consume, and the thing that they were feeding it was an imperfect substitute that only served to mollify it temporarily.

"I don't know," I replied quietly.

Something in my tone must have given him pause, because the sarcastic, churlish reply that I had learned to expect from Trickster did not come.

"Go on," he said in a suddenly weary voice. "Go on and get out of here."

Reluctantly, I did as commanded.

~~JH~~

I didn't know what Trickster said to the others after my ill-fated run-in with Noelle, but whatever it was, it only served to ratchet up the tension between me and them. No doubt after having had some time to think about it, he'd twisted the events to make me appear useless at best and harmful at worst. Not that it would take much convincing. Since my encounter with her, she'd grown more erratic. I sensed the tension in the staff as they moved through the base. Her presence seemed to leak out of the room despite the vault-like door and hang in the air, a menacing presence that could only be apprehended in the spaces between conscious and unconscious thought.

It was worse in the force. I could not unsee what I had seen. And whatever that being was that existed contiguous to our reality, remained, its voracious and all-consuming appetite growing and growing within the void in which it was trapped; its only outlet being Noelle's body.

Noelle's existence gave rise to so many questions that I didn't know where to begin. And where the force had been so powerful a guide before, here, in this arena where I needed it most, it seemed to fail me. I struggled to bring myself to a state where I could peer into the future, but when I did, the visions distended, as if the light that composed the images were being warped by some immense gravitational force.

The only conclusion I could come to was that Noelle could not be precogged. That I had run up against something that could rebuff my power in some way. The idea was unsettling. It was almost as unsettling as the realization that I would find no answers in the force.

And yet, with each passing day, the need for answers burned hotter inside me. All this time, I had thought myself strange for the manner in which my powers manifested. It had seemed axiomatic that I was the weird one. But now that I had seen Noelle, I had to wonder if it were really my powers that were weird, or if there was something not quite right about cape powers to begin with.

And the more that I meditated on that, the more I tried to peer through the veil to where the answers to my questions lay, the more I felt hunted. Something was out there. My mind kept returning to that eldritch colossus. Even in the confines of my own mind, it felt like that being was there, hooking into me with something that was not quite sight and not quite touch but rather something in-between. I couldn't shake the feeling that there was something important to this revelation – something that was greater than me – something so great that it seemed to rival the force itself.

~~JH~~

"So this other personality," Marissa began tentatively. "What's she like?"

"He," I said as I sipped on my tea. We were sitting in a café near the boardwalk. Warm spring temperatures had arrived and looked like it was here to stay. The weather had been alternating between rain showers and bouts of sunlight, which was making the grass and flowers and trees come alive with life and color. We were in one of the sunny periods, which painted the street in warm light.

Marissa took a moment to digest this new aspect to my cape powers. "Does he… have a name?"

Did he have a name? He was Lord Vader in my head, but somehow, it didn't feel quite right. Another name seemed to bleed up from that wellspring of power – Anakin Skywalker. And yet, it felt old and disused, as if it were a name that had been shed long ago like the skin of some reptile. "Vader," I said finally. "His name is Vader."

"Hmm." She seemed to mull over the idea before saying, "Are you sure this other personality is real?"

"It's not something I constructed as a coping mechanism," I said, knowing where she was going. I had been through multiple traumatic events, so it was hardly a surprise that some sort of Freudian-style explanation wouldn't have come up. "I know an entire language. I know how to sword fight with a laser sword, that I built."

"Lots of cape powers come with pre-set information. That's part of the weirdness of powers." She reached over and clasped my hand in hers. "I'm not trying to – maybe I'm not saying this right." She shook her head. "It obviously bothers you – this other presence. I guess I'm just wondering if maybe it's not really as weird as it feels. Like, you know, maybe there's a more mundane explanation, you know?"

I smiled. She really was trying to help. "Maybe." But deep down, I didn't believe it.

"So when you're fighting," she said, and now there was a note of hesitation in her voice as she continued to speak, "this other personality comes forward?"

I nodded. "He's always there. Sometimes, something'll happen around me which sets him off. That's when the bleeding between him and me begins. It doesn't happen in a friendly spar… it's when I'm in danger."

"So he's like a guardian angel?"

I nodded slowly. "Yes… a rage-filled cybernetic, genocidal guardian angel."

Marissa was biting her lip in contemplation. "Is it getting worse?"

That was the question, wasn't it? I thought as I stared out the window at a mother pushing her baby stroller along on the sidewalk. Was it getting worse? In a way yes, but in another way no. "Vader killed a lot of people. Thousands in personal combat. He ordered the deaths of millions, possibly billions. Don't look at me like that. I don't know where he actually lived. Some sort of galaxy-spanning civilization. I guess when you kill so often and for so long… killing becomes a part of you." I turned and looked at Marissa, who was hanging on my every word. "The more I fight and kill, the easier it is. I don't need Vader anymore to kill Marissa. I can do it without batting an eye. Is it getting worse? I don't know. I'm changing, that's for sure. In the end, Vader killed even for small infractions. It's like it was the only way he knew how to deal with his anger. And anger… it was the only thing he knew how to feel."

"That's… terrifying," said Marissa. "I won't pretend it isn't."

"I know," I said. "And I don't see any way to stop it, to be honest. Maybe now that the empire's gone, I can rest."

"We'll stop it together," she said. "I'm not abandoning you to go through this."

"Because we're teammates?" I asked.

"More than teammates," she replied. "If you still want that."

"I do."

We sat in a comfortable silence as the first of the many painful discussions we needed to have was over.

"Noelle," Marissa began.

And now it was on to painful discussion number two.

"Noelle," I affirmed.

"You tried to heal her?" The way she phrased that made me certain that Trickster didn't portray my encounter with Noelle in a very flattering light.

"I didn't even get that far," I said. "I tried to use my thinker power to analyze her. The moment I tried though, she reacted… poorly."

"Trickster said that you nearly fainted."

I frowned as I tried to explain in a way that she could understand. "Imagine my thinker power is like trying to drink from a tap. In most cases, I have to put effort into opening up the valve to get some drips out. The more effort I put in, the more the valve turns, the more water flows." I glanced at her to see if she was understanding.

She nodded and made a go on gesture.

"I've gotten pretty good at controlling the valve," I continued. "But with Noelle, it was as if the valve was broken. The moment I tried to draw anything out, I was hit in the face by what felt like a firehose."

"Were you injured?" she asked.

"I was disoriented," I said, "but not harmed. But Noelle… she reacted violently. She wanted to-" I paused as I tried to settle on the right word. But there was nothing in my lexicon to describe what I had sensed in those moments we were connected. Finally, I settled on, "She wanted to have me."

"She hasn't been the same," said Marissa after a moment. She glanced down as though the answers to the meaning of life could be found in the remains of her latte. ".It's nothing obvious. She still smiles. She still looks burdened. But now, sometimes, there's a look in her eye, as though she's elsewhere. And sometimes, when she looks at us, it's like something else is looking at us through her eyes."

"Have you thought of seeing the heroes?" It was kind of a stupid question, but I had no better way to broach the subject. Of course they'd considered the heroes. But even I was startled by the vehement, knee-jerk response.

"No. Not the heroes. Never them."

"They have a lot of resources," I tried again.

"That's enough." Marissa's voice was sharper than I'd ever heard it. She seemed to realize this and forced herself to relax. "The heroes can't help."

She believed it with all her being. The absolute certainty was astonishing. I couldn't imagine what could create such a profound aversion to them turning to the heroes for help, but I knew there was no sense arguing. I simply nodded and moved on. "I'd like to try again," I said.

"Trickster won't agree to that."

I took a deep breath and said, "Do you blame me for agitating Noelle?"

In the force, I could tell that Marissa was confused and conflicted, but she rallied, her thoughts and feelings coalescing to try to answer the question. "You did what you thought was right. No one could predict how Noelle would react. Maybe we should have taken some more precautions, but we didn't. And that's Trickster's fault more than yours. He should have known better than to throw you into the room with Noelle. At least no one was hurt."

"And Noelle?" I prodded. "If I've… changed her in some way?"

"We'll deal. We always have." She locked gazes with me and added, "You can use your thinker power on people without actually being in the room with them, can't you?"

"Yes." I barely had time to wonder about the question before she barreled on ahead.

"Which means you can use your thinker power on Noelle, even if Trickster doesn't agree to let you be in the same room as her again."

The penny dropped. "You don't want me to touch her mind again."

"That's right."

I let out a long and slow exhale as I gathered my thoughts. It wasn't just about Noelle's well-being. I had questions of my own that needed answering, and in some way shape or form, Noelle was a stepping stone to helping me answer those questions. And yet, gazing into Marissa's solemn blue eyes, I couldn't help but say, "Of course. Not unless you give me permission."

She studied me a moment longer before nodding to herself. "Thank you."

"Of course."

~~JH~~

The territory that Coil assigned me was in the heart of the former Empire. Not only that but it abutted both the ABB and merchant territories, and also happened to be the poorer part of the city. All of this meant that it was the most violent and volatile area of town. When I had asked Coil about it, he had merely replied, "I have confidence that you are the most capable to manage it."

On the upshot, he'd strategically situated my territory so that it shared a long border with Marissa's. This also had the effect of placing Marissa squarely next to the ABB. I itched to find out what he'd learned from Dinah to orchestrate our assignments in this way.

My base was mostly underground, which I suppose was not a surprise. Given its size, it would be too conspicuous to be above ground. As it was, it had multiple exits, though one was a culvert that wound its way to the docks and not far from where my dad used to work.

Dad…. It'd been weeks since I last thought of him. Somewhere along the way, I'd somehow divorced my new life from my old. I'd started thinking of those days from before the break as the old Taylor.

One of the mercenaries that had been assigned to me, Martin, approached. "We're almost done here. The perimeter has been fully secured. We have surveillance on every square inch up to a hundred yards to the north and west. Unfortunately we could only get thirty yards out on the east and southern sides. There's a risk of someone stumbling on our gear if we press out further."

I nodded. "Good." Things were proceeding as anticipated then. Coil's people were efficient and capable, and had a refreshing amount of discipline for mercenaries. I didn't know if it was just that Coil had a careful vetting process, or if it was a cultural thing between my world and that of Vader's, or if it was just a bias on Vader's part to look down on mercenaries. Though not even Vader could deny the results wrought by such as the Mandalorians. "Call a meeting. It's time to discuss next steps."

I took my time making it to the conference room as I considered what I wanted to say. For the first time since getting my powers, I felt like I could begin looking to the future. Even though threats continued to encroach on all sides, I at least now had resources, and, maybe, a little time as well to meet those threats.

The conference room was fully equipped, and it took only a second to call up a map of our territory. Vader had been adept at commanding a room, but he'd already had the presence and reputation to do it. I had neither, and, moreover, Coil's mercenaries weren't impressed by capes. I had the feeling that they saw most capes as people with more power than sense. I intended to change that.

"Our territory abuts both the Merchants and the ABB, and our border with the ABB is longer than any other border with any other gang in the city. This means that Lung will almost certainly begin probing our defences with the intention of co-opting our territory."

"What do we do if Lung goes on a rampage?" someone asked.

"Then we will deal with him," I said decisively. "Hopefully he is not that type of leader. If he is smart, he will send his people into our territory and try to buy up property and businesses. He may have already started. With the decline of the empire, many who felt protected under their aegis may now seek to move; especially if ABB gang members begin knocking on their door." I overlaid information about various locations and businesses onto the map. "The green dots represent known affiliates of Coil. These are people and businesses who are friendly and will support us. The amber dots represent unknowns. These are people who have been non-committal in the past but who may be willing to support us in exchange for protection and other services. Finally, we have the red dots. These are empire die-hards."

I looked each soldier in the eye. "The ambers need to be vetted. If we root out enemies among them, whether they prove to be either empire or ABB, then you will update the list to mark them as either a green or a red."

"If we run across an Asian homeowner or business, how will we know if they're plants for the ABB?"

"Make a note of the ones you are uncertain about, and report back to me. Some of them may prove to be antagonistic toward the ABB given some of their practices. We may find some unexpected allies of our own amidst the Asians. Of course, I will have to go out there and vet each one personally."

"If you do that, your whereabouts will become predictable," said Martin, concerned.

I nodded. That was an excellent point. "Which means we can expect an ambush – especially since much of the Asian population will already straddle the ABB's border. I'll expect reports on the ABB's internal organization and structure, along with their key assets, interests, and members. Lung may be powerful, but I doubt he wants to rule over a pile of rubble. Let's see what he owns of value that we can threaten."

"What do we do about the reds?" asked another.

"Those that aren't packing already will be encouraged to do so."

~~JH~~

Craig kicked the nigger bitch in the stomach. She curled in on herself. Her eyes were squeezed shut, but this did not stop tears from streaming down her face. Her boyfriend - a race traitor - was laying feet away, half-unconscious.

"All right," said Tony with calm that Craig envied. One day, he'd be tough as nails just like Tony when taking out this subhuman trash. "There ain't no telling when the cops're gonna come around, so we'd best finish this."

The girl was young. Honestly he'd hoped he could've stuck his dick in her, and he could've if he'd made a point about it. But really, it was cold out, and the alley smelled. He wasn't even sure he could get it up in these conditions. Next time, he'd push to have one of the bitches brought back to a warehouse or something. He pulled out his gun. He'd never shot a person before. But then that was the whole point. This was his induction into the empire.

"Put that away," said Tony irritably. "You gotta be able to do this right if you're gonna join. Lou, hand this dumb fuck a knife."

Lou, the third and last of their group, was a big, muscle-bound guy with small eyes set in a round face. He not only had the gang tats, but one that marked him as an ex-con. He pulled out a bowie knife. "Use this." He held it out, handle first. Craig took it and hefted it.

"Christ, I hope I don't get blood all over myself," he muttered. He'd never stabbed someone before. He didn't even know where to stick it, but asking that sort of question was like asking someone how to fuck a bitch. It just wasn't done.

He knelt down. The girl's lips were moving. Was she praying? Fucking hell.

She opened her eyes and stared almost cross-eyed at the gleaming metal blade. "Please," she said through her tears. "My parents."

Back on the farm, he'd once seen his uncle slit a cow's throat. He grabbed the girl by the hair, twisted her head so that her neck was angled downward, and then ran the blade across it. Her eyes bulged out of their sockets, and she let out a scream that quickly cut off as the knife bit into her throat. Craig let her head fall back to the cement. He wiped the edge off on her skirt, which had ridden so far up so as to expose her black panties. Next time definitely a warehouse he thought.

There was the echoing thunder of gunfire. Craig looked up to see the bitch's boyfriend - a white race traitor's head blown off. Lou holstered the hand cannon.

"I thought you said no guns."

"Don't be such a faggot. Come on, we gotta move."

Craig stood and followed the other two as they headed toward the mouth of the alley.

"That'll be a lesson to the other niggers and faggots that we don't need no fucking capes to police our area," replied Tony grimly. "If we don't do it, no one will."

They were a dozen paces from the alley when the lights ahead of them all winked out at once.

"What the-?" Craig asked, but Tony shushed him. Just his lucky night, Craight thought irritably. No doubt it was a fucking cape. There was only one that he knew of that made darkness. Supposedly it was a nigger too. Christ, what was his name? He glanced back at the mess behind him. The smell of cordite and human innards was filling the alleyway. That shit was a life sentence, assuming that the cape didn't go for vigilante justice.

Lou and Tony were just conversing. Tony just finished saying that it wasn't Grue - that was the cape's name - when a figure touched down at the mouth of the alley.

Whoever it was had a slim figure and wore a cloak with a hood pulled up. Both Lou and Tony drew their pistols and fired. Craig was a second behind. In the near darkness, he couldn't tell whether the bullets struck, though given how close she was, there was no way they could have missed.

"Out of our way, bitch," shouted Tony, though Craig could hear the concern in his voice. Not a lot of capes could shrug off bullets, and Craig knew that Tony used armor-piercing rounds that could punch through a flak jacket.

Craig squinted. There was a glint of something metallic in her hands. An instant later, a long beam of glowing green death emerged from what he now saw was the handle of her... a chill ran down his spine. It was her. The crazy cape that had demolished the empire capes. Craig instinctively took a step back. She wasn't supposed to be out here. He'd heard that she'd only gone up against capes, and even then, only when provoked.

"This is our fucking territory, bitch!" Tony shouted. He fired his pistol three more times in rapid succession. The glowing energy blade blurred into motion, making three quick swishes. The bullets should have struck true, but there was no indication of that whatsoever. The thought niggled that she hadn't been hit with them, but rather had intercepted them with her blade.

Tony and Lou seemed to come to the same conclusion, because they both began firing as fast as they could, no doubt hoping to overwhelm her. Craig watched, but did not fire. He knew, deep down, that it was useless. The cape was too confident. Too bold. She wouldn't have stood there taking it if she thought she had anything to fear. Craig wasn't sure exactly the thought process that led him to it, but he found himself turning and running. He heard Lou shouting at him, but he didn't care. That crazy bitch was going to kill them. If he could make it to the other end of the alley - there was still light coming from that street - if maybe Lou and Tony delayed her long enough...

His foot slipped on something, and he went sprawling hard to the ground. It took him a second to realize he was laying in a pool of the nigger's still warm blood. Faintly, he heard the distinctive hum of that energy sword in motion. Lou and Tony were shouting. Tony's voice cut off suddenly, and so did the sound of gunfire. The eerie dance of light off the brick walls to either side stopped. Craig didn't look; he didn't care. He scrambled to his feet and ran for all he was worth. He made it five steps before what felt like a giant fist sent him tumbling across the ground. He looked up. The sword was right there. He tracked it with his gaze, as if hypnotized. A moment later, it was a blur of motion. He felt himself rolling. The world was tilting crazily. When it finally came to a stop, the cape and her sword were several feet away, standing over his body. He tried to make sense of what he was seeing as darkness closed in around him. He was here, but his body was there... and then he was nowhere.

~~JH~~

"Twelve dead so far," said Armsmaster. He stood to attention in Piggot's office. Both Dauntless and Miss Militia were also present.

"She's racking up a body count," Piggot noted neutrally.

"All gang members," said Dauntless.

"I hope you're not suggesting that that excuses her conduct in any way," said Piggot.

"No, Director," said Dauntless quickly. "I'm only pointing out that it speaks to her mental state."

"Why there?" asked Miss Militia.

"Good question," said Piggot. "The fact is we don't know, but I'll give you three guesses."

"She's decided to settle down," said Miss Militia.

"I concur," said Armsmaster. "We have only a few data points so far, but preliminary conclusion is that she is hunting around an activity node."

Piggot sighed. "Like a serial killer."

"Similar," replied Armsmaster. "The only distinction is in the choice of targets."

"A vigilante serial killer. And a cape we really don't want to fight."

Silence filled the room. She wasn't surprised. Zephyr sounded like an absolute nightmare.

"If she's hunting," Piggot went on, "then she's patrolling. You need to get out there and intercept her."

"Alone?" asked Dauntless.

"You can fly," replied Piggot. "She cannot. However, evidence indicates she can easily leap from rooftop to rooftop. This means a flier is almost certainly necessary. Ergo, you're it, Dauntless. Unless you want me to send Aegis out there."

"No, of course not," he said. "But I remember what she did to Hookwolf."

"Try not to kill anyone she loves," said Piggot sharply, "and I'm sure you'll be fine."

Dauntless exhaled slowly. "fine. But I do hope that Protectorate support will be on hand if she proves uncooperative."

"She's a teenager," said Miss Militia. "there may be some merit in exposing her to the wards."

"For what? A recruitment pitch? Zephyr burned that bridge around twenty murders ago. The only reason we're involving the wards is if one of them has a power that will prove useful in capturing Zephyr."

"Is there a kill order for her?"

"No." Piggot drew out the word as if the act of uttering that one syllable physically pained her. "The higher ups are still dragging their feet. Besides, it might do more harm than good."

"We may not be able to capture her," said Armsmaster slowly. "Her power set may mean that the only way to neutralize her is with overwhelming force. And that sort of thing tends to be lethal."

"If she dies then she dies," replied Piggot. "No one's going to look too hard if that happens. The one thing that's clear though is that Zephyr must be stopped. All these killings – people are likening her to the Nine." Her glare intensified. "And having a cape bogeyman like that in the Bay is bad for business."

~~JH~~

I stared down mystified at the array of implements on the bathroom counter top. I delicately picked up something that I was tentatively calling precision tweezers in my mind. It seemed to me to be a torture instrument of some kind. There were at least four brushes of various types. One must have been for the foundation or the blush or whatever. Another was for eyelids, maybe?

It was at times like this that I felt a pang for what I had had with Emma. In another life, she would have been here with me both mentoring and learning at the same time. She was always the girly one; probably a function of her natural beauty. Not like me. In the past, it had made me feel both grateful and inferior at the same time – a combination that had slowly distorted my psyche over the years. It was something I was still dealing with. Ten minutes of applying cosmetics and feeling increasingly like I was turning into a clown, and I finally gave up. Taking the plunge and dialing out on my cell phone. "Martin? No, nothing's wrong. Is Darlene free? Good, send her to my room please. Thank you."

Darlene was one of the few mercenaries that was also a woman. I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear – a nervous habit I thought I had rid myself of long ago.

A tap on the door and a shouted enter, and Darlene was there. One quick survey told her everything she needed to know. Thankfully, there was no expression of disdain either in her demeanor or her thoughts. I wasn't sure I would have had the control not to snap her neck if there were.

"That's way too much lipstick," she said, taking a damp cloth and wiping my lips. And I think you'd probably prefer tones that are a little more understated."

"I thought red lipstick was a classic," I mumbled.

"Honey, not with that skin tone."

My phone buzzed. I didn't need force powers to know it was Marissa wondering where I was. Another twenty minutes later – Darlene wasn't used to applying makeup to someone else – and I was studying my new look in the mirror. It was weird. I could barely even tell I was wearing makeup, but I looked noticeably nicer. My eyes popped in a way I couldn't quite describe, and instead of my mouth looking too wide, instead my lips just looked full-bodied.

"You're lucky," said Darlene, studying me critically. "You have a nice complexion, and smooth, even features. Lots of girls would kill for that. And the hair – that's model territory right there. Not to mention, the tall, slim form."

I was still having trouble thinking of myself as anything other than ugly, but I was coming around to the idea. In another life, this could have been the only thing I had to worry about. I glanced at Darlene, imagining that it was Mom there helping me with this. Something hot and burning prickled behind my eyes. I resisted the urge to crush it down as I did with all my negative emotions. I didn't want to grind this into the furnace that drove my force powers.

"Thanks," I said.

Darlene's smile was a little sad. "Any time, Captain."

~~JH~~

If I dared to think of myself as pretty, then Marissa was positively radiant. Her hair shined in the afternoon sun, which only deepened the blue of her eyes. I stopped before her, suddenly a little self-conscious as she gave me a quick once over. I was still woefully awkward at having a girlfriend. Marissa, who was just a few inches shorter than me, leaned up and gave me a kiss.

"You look lovely," she said.

I had to squash an instinctive urge to get defensive. Some old, beaten up part of me grated at the attention. I forced a smile and slipped my hand through hers as we headed out toward BB's very own spring fair. Somewhere in the process of getting our own territories, Marissa had bought a sedan.

"I didn't want to have one of the staff drive us," said Marissa, a little embarrassed. "It'd look conspicuous since we're kind of young to be having chauffeurs."

I knew, of course, that Marissa wanted to have this time be totally free of cape business. Privately, I believed that there was no escaping cape business, and that Marissa's hope was an illusion at best. Still, I wasn't going to be the one to burst her bubble. "I prefer it," I said. "It's more privacy and freedom for us."

The fair was close to the Boardwalk, being located in a park tangentially connected to what passed for Brockton's financial district. It was a warm and breezy day, pavilions fluttering almost constantly. The fair was busier than I thought it'd be. The lingering aura of fear from the fallout with the empire didn't seem to affect people's desire to come out. It may have even been spurring people on – a small island of normalcy amidst the craziness. I didn't think it was possible, but they'd managed to set up small rides on the ground. Marissa dragged me toward a miniature Ferris wheel.

"Seriously?" I asked, amused as we got in line.

"Hold here," she said. "I'll go buy tickets."

She vanished into the crowds. I tracked her with the force. My powers made me superhumanly graceful, but I knew that it was just that – my powers. Marissa's grace was all hers. She returned with tickets and an ice cream cone.

"Rocky road," I murmured as she held it out for me to take a lick. "You remembered."

A touch of red bloomed in her cheeks. "Of course I remembered. I care about the things you care about."

The emotions underlying her words seeped into me like the warmth of a summer sun. It soothed, as it always did, the raw hurting wound that never seemed to heal inside me.

For a moment, I stalled as I tried to tumble together some sort of response. All the words and phrases that I could come up with seemed like an imperfect facsimile. Words and phrases that would only cheapen the true sentiment inside me. Before I could settle upon the perfect words, someone shouted at us to move on.

The world snapped back into focus, the tunnel vision that had momentarily occupied me shattering to reveal the loud and cluttered world around us.

Marissa handed over the tickets to the bored yet impatient ticket-taker. He eyed the ice cream cone distastefully for a moment. A slight nudge of his thoughts, and we were passed without incident.

"I loved the slow rides when I was a child,' said Marissa wistfully as she climbed higher and higher. "It always felt like, up here, I could pretend I was in a bubble away from the rest of the world."

"Even if you were with other people while you were up here?" The question seemed to come out without conscious thought, and I regretted it immediately.

"Mostly," she replied. Sensing my thoughts, she added, "But now it's even better, because I can also share that bubble with you."

It was my turn to flush. She was going to be the death of me. She leaned into my lips. We were exposed up here at the top of the wheel – everyone could see us. And then she licked ice cream off the corner of my lip and sat back with a satisfied grin. "I love watching you squirm, you know."

"You're terrible, Marissa Newland," I said. I was sure she could see and hear the pounding of my heart in my chest.

"I deny everything."

We were on our second ascent. Marissa scooted closer to me as the wind picked up. Even with this brief shift in altitude, it was noticeably cooler. I hugged her close, her sheer physical closeness seeming to bleed away the stress that I carried with me as a part of my life.

Below, I could make out the mass of hundreds of minds all brushing against one another. All those thoughts and emotions had their own timbre to them, and together they formed a tapestry. Six distinct points were like flares in the dark – capes no doubt. I briefly wondered who they were, but quickly dismissed the thought. Marissa wouldn't appreciate me bringing up the topic, and it wasn't something I wanted to get into anyway. I was still keeping it a secret, as there was no telling what kind of response that revelation would provoke.

The ride slowed to a crawl as people were being released. Marissa popped the last of the cone into my mouth and then licked her fingers clean before we were ushered off the ride.

We drifted through the fair grounds. We were both the type to silently observe. Occasionally, Marissa would make a comment that often managed to be both part commentary, and part question. I kept one arm wrapped around her to keep people from trying to push their way between us. We dipped in and out of people's focus. It was a strange feeling having the lesbianness of our relationship noted. Invariably there was a spike of some emotion, though often too fleeting to fully capture and analyze. When I looked down, I saw that Marissa was studying me.

"You're elsewhere again," she said, but there was no accusation in her words.

"Sorry, I can't really turn it off, and besides… I don't want to. It'd be like closing my eyes or shutting my ears."

Marissa took the idea with equanimity. "What are you sensing then?" Again, no censure, only curiosity.

"It's hard to explain," I said. "People are preoccupied with enjoying themselves. It's funny, because I get a lot of people fixating on the idea of enjoying themselves, but not actually doing so. A lot are people gazing. We're attracting some attention, of course, and I'm sensitive to that."

"Bad attention?"

"Not malicious if that's what you mean."

"Hmm."

I'd spoken a second too soon, as I felt someone's mind sharpen upon me. The attention was swift and focused, and full of recognition. There was shock and fear, and a familiar brand of antipathy that I couldn't have mistaken anywhere. Emma. Of course she'd be out here prancing around. And if she were here, then her cadre of losers would be about as well. I flexed my fingers unconsciously with the urge to crush her windpipe. Her and Sophia and stupid cutesy little Madison with her sickening, cutesy little giggle.

"Taylor?" Marissa asked, concerned. "What's the matter?"

I ignored Marissa in favour of searching Emma out with my own two eyes. There she was - about fifty feet away. She was gesticulating to a security guard, her finger pointing conspicuously in my direction. Seriously? Didn't she get the memo? I was a powerful and violent cape who might have a grudge against her for getting my dad killed. A quick scan of the crowd revealed her family just feet away. Mr. Barnes was looking particularly awkward. I caught his gaze, but he looked away almost immediately. I'd never really thought about it, but how much had he known of the abuse I suffered at his daughter's hands? Had Emma hidden it from her family? What excuses did she make to keep Mr. Barnes from talking about it with my dad. My dad… I studied Mr. Barnes more carefully. Had Mr. Barnes attended the funeral? Had there even been one? Part of me wanted to go over there and demand answers. Part of me wanted them to give me an excuse to unleash apocalyptic vengeance upon them. I could do it. The force swirled around me, ready within an instant to shatter bone; to knife into the minds of these vermin and rip their petty little secrets from them.

"Taylor!"

It took physical effort to tear my thoughts away from the Barnes family and back to Marissa. She was full of worry, and that seemed to center me. She was flicking her gaze back and forth between me and the Barnes. No, not the Barnes. The security personnel that were approaching. Christ, did Emma even bother to tell them I was a parahuman? I wasn't about to slaughter random guards, but she didn't know that. The desire to grind her under my boot surged once more.

"Ma'am," said the first security guard. "I'm afraid we're going to have to ask you to leave."

These were enforcers on loan from the Boardwalk. I'd heard rumours of their use of excessive violence in the darkened alleys away from the eyes of the wealthier citizens of the Bay. It took only a touch of the force to verify that sadistic brutality was just a hair trigger away for them.

"Make me-"

"We're leaving!" cried Marissa half in irritation and half in exasperated fear. "Come on, Taylor."

"Hey," said one of the guards. "Don't I know you from somewhere?" He made to grab my shoulder.

"Touch me, and I'll turn you to pulp right here and now."

The guy paused, confused, but recognizing the unfiltered malice in my voice. The other guard seemed to realize who I was, because his fear levels shot through the roof, adrenalin flooding his body. He shakily grabbed his partner and dragged him back.

"Tay, we gotta go."

I let Marissa pull me along. The force came to me on instinct, adjusting the minds of the people around us so that our path was cleared for our escape.

That bitch. That fucking bitch. I didn't know who I was angrier at – Emma for ruining my day, or Marissa for running away, or myself, for letting Emma win again. The urge to turn around and bore a path through all these cretinous bodies like a proton torpedo was growing and growing. I could kill them with a single thought. How hard would it be to parcel out the force to simultaneously burst the veins inside all their skulls? Hundreds of them, all dead and expelling blood – a carpet of corpses leading right to the feet of my hated tormentor. And to think just that morning I had-

I was suddenly encased in Marissa's warmth. Again, she pulled me back from that cycle of unending rage. She was hugging me.

"Taylor, please."

Jerkily, I raised my arms and hugged her back. We were standing on the sidewalk just outside the fairgrounds.

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay." The lie was almost convincing. "Just don't let him take over."

Him. Vader. That's who she was referring to.

"I… won't." I took deep breaths and began counting prime numbers in my head. I was at sixty-one when I felt I was fully in control once more. When I felt I could say it and mean it, I said, "I'm good now."

Marissa held on another five seconds before letting go and searching my expression. She reached a hand up and ran her fingers gently around my eyes. "Your eyes… I could've sworn they turned yellow. And that look – it was the same that time with Night and Fog."

"I'm good now," I repeated. "Thank you. I'm not certain what I would've done if you hadn't been there."

"What happened? Did someone recognize you?"

I could hear the unasked question in Marissa's words. She wanted to know if the simple act of being recognized was what almost sent me into a murderous rampage of a bunch of innocent civilians.

"Someone from my past," I said finally. Seeing that Marissa was still not wholly satisfied, I added, "Someone from my trigger."

Comprehension was swift followed by understanding and pity. If anything could serve as a trigger for a murderous rampage, it would have been that.

"I'm sorry," I said. "I'm sorry I ruined our date."

"You didn't," said Marissa, cupping my cheek in her hand. "And it wasn't you. It was whoever that was that sent the enforcers after us. And our date wasn't ruined. It's just taking an unexpected detour."

I smiled. "You're too good to me."

"Come back to my place, and I'll show you how good I can be," she said coyly. She ran a delicate, manicured finger down my arm, leaving behind goosebumps.

And just like that, all my anger vanished and was replaced by desire. Where I'd been anxious and awkward before, I was all determined and aggressive. I leaned forward and kissed her, holding her in place with force-enhanced fingers. I wasn't sure if it was just me, or if I had used the force in some way on an unconscious level, but when we broke apart, her eyes were dilated, cheeks flushed and lips swollen slightly from us kissing.

"Let's get out of here."

~~JH~~

"I told you before I don't want no trouble," said the man angrily. His name was Saro, and he ran a jewellery store in the middle of my territory, one which I was certain was used to launder money for the empire. He was marked as an amber, but my men had reported back that he was hostile. Of course, that had been before I had excised the imperial remnant. I waited crouched and shrouded on the hood of a car as my men approached Saro. He didn't strike me as being any more amenable now than he had been before. That was fine with me. My anger from the fairgrounds this morning had been sidelined but not extinguished. It was a fire that craved fuel, and Saro, it seemed, would serve well enough in that capacity.

"You think you and your fucking guns scare me?" Saro said. "Don't fucking pretend, you're-"

"You're what?" I cut in, my voice projecting unnaturally in the otherwise still parking lot as I landed lightly in front of him.

He took an instinctive step back. He didn't show it, but his fear was palpable. "Who the fuck're you?" His question was merely reflexive. I could tell from the recognition in his eyes as he gave me a quick once over.

I let his question hang in the air a moment – just enough to underscore the fact that I was choosing not to answer before I took control of the conversation. "Tell me, the sniper in the second storey window," I began. "Is that… your son?"

The muffled crack of a silenced rifle resonated momentarily in the open air. Saro had taken another step back and looked ready to bolt. His eyes were wide, and his body was vibrating with the need to flee, but he dared not.

"I suppose you think that standing there will distract me long enough to let your son escape," I mused. I held my hand out. The deformed remains of the armor-piercing round hovered there.

"What – what do you want?" The man was already broken.

"You will cooperate with my men, who will be going through your business records – everything from accounts to inventory to agreements. We will evaluate your business and then buy it from you."

There was a momentary flash of hope in his eyes before reality settled in.

"Buy it?"

"The price will be fair," I said casually. I let the bullet drop to the ground. "However, there will be costs levied. My time, you see, is very valuable, and your recalcitrance has forced me to waste some of it. I trust you won't force me to waste any more. Everyone has more to give, and I'm very good at finding new ways to take from those who owe me."

There came a strangled cry from the building. The window shattered as a man was half-yanked through the glass.

"Charlie!" Saro cried. He raised a hand as if to catch his son. His gaze had gone wild, and his skin was turning shiny with sweat.

"Go on," I said. "Save your boy… and remember."

Saro gave me one final, desperate look before running to the building to pull Charlie to safety.

"Follow him, and notify me immediately if he gives you any further trouble."

I turned away from the scene. That had not been nearly satisfying enough. I was filled with the desire to shed blood, to drive my adversaries to new heights of pain and despair. And yet, giving in to that urge would not accomplish anything except provide me with momentary satisfaction. It would disturb my men, and it would diminish my territory. I needed my subjects healthy and prospering. Afraid, yes, but not so afraid or injured that they couldn't function. My territory was a delicate and complex machine, and it required a delicate and complex hand. The killing would have to wait.

I leapt onto the roof of the building and froze. There was a cape inbound. A second later, Dauntless came flying into view, his arclance poised in front and crackling.

"Zephyr!" he shouted. "Stand down! You're under arrest!"

He was firing a bolt of electricity at me before he finished shouting. My lightsaber was in my hand, the blade extending from the hilt to catch the bolt and reflect it back at him. He was fast enough to deploy his shield to absorb the blast, but was forced back as I darted forward to try to disarm him. He met my blade with his arclance, an eye-watering shower of sparks spraying in all directions. I deflected his weapon upward and got inside his guard with a kick to his stomach. He flew back a step with the force of the blow, robbing it of its momentum. Then he was on the offensive, using his speed and flight and longer reach to try to tap me with his arclance. My sword work was impeccable, and he only managed to exchange a flurry of fast blows before disengaging. He shot three bolts in rapid succession at me. I deflected all three with staccato strokes of my blade. One bolt struck a car; another, a streetlight. Both died instantly, the energy blast frying the delicate circuits within.

"Give up, Zephyr!" he shouted. "The others are on their way. You can't take us all!"

I could if I were prepared to kill, but against heroes… no. Not heroes. I drew the line there, and no amount of murderous impulses was going to make me break that rule.

I hefted the wrecked car into the air and threw it at him.

The move was sudden and violent, and it would have turned an ordinary person to paste. But Dauntless had no doubt trained with my powers in mind. He pivoted in mid-air and used his shield to deflect the vehicle over him. A whisper-faint touch of the force had me throwing my lightsaber. It transformed momentarily into a fan of whirling death. With his shield occupied and a car still sailing overhead, he had to jerk sideways to try to avoid the blade from skewering him. Not that skewering him had been the objective. The blade of the lightsaber contacted his left boot, and, with the force, I forced it to drag violently across the side, cutting through the material even as brilliant showers of energy obscured my weapon from view. A moment later, the lightsaber was arcing back to my hand, and Dauntless was spinning out of control, his balance shot as the corona of light that surrounded the damaged footwear dissipated. A gentle nudge and he clipped the edge of the roof before tumbling over the edge, his arclance flying uncontrolled from his hand.

I could have gone after him. He was defenceless now. But what was the point? I didn't want to kill him, and besides, it would take time for him to charge his boots again to enable him to fly. He was no threat.

I turned and sprinted into the darkness, leaving Dauntless and the approaching heroes behind.

~~JH~~

Days passed without event. I was pruning the dissident elements from my territory, and was slowly but surely establishing my dominance. Protection money was starting to flow in. Coil's accountants seemed to be able to work miracles. I heard rumours of thinkers working behind the scenes, the most significant of whom was the Number Man, but I never met any or even encountered them.

I'd had no further encounters with the heroes. This was not a coincidence. I was going out of my way to keep an eye on them so I could avoid them. They were my enemies, but I harboured no ill will toward them. I was starting to see Coil's plan in its fullness, and I approved. There was a balance of power between heroes and villains. One could simply not have a city without both. Coil intended to control the city much as a feudal lord would. We were his dukes and earls, overseeing his interests and paying a tithe. In their own way, even the heroes were dancing to his tune, as he used them to help maintain order. One large villain gang was an invitation by both heroes and other gangs to muscle in, but multiple smaller gangs were not. I was certain Coil had his fingers in the Protectorate pie as well. All the while, his power would spread, his influence expanding throughout the city and possibly beyond, unseen by any except perhaps the most high level thinkers. And even that he was taking steps to address by gathering thinkers of his own to act as a buffer.

I didn't know if his plan would ultimately prove to be sustainable. It relied on others not realizing that he was masterminding the multiple disparate groups. A secret like that seemed somehow fragile. But then again, perhaps he had some further goal in mind – some further plan or goal that I couldn't see.

I settled down on my bed and closed my eyes. My thoughts expanded and grew diffuse as I settled into the force. I hadn't had much opportunity to do this since I joined Coil. There'd been too many distractions between settling in, learning the dynamics of being on a team, building my lightsaber, breaking the empire, and taking control of a territory. And, of course, Marissa. Just the thought of her softened the hard, jagged parts that still existed inside of me.

Despite the stability and seeming prosperity, I couldn't help but feel that it was somehow an illusion – that this steady life, and all the little happinesses I enjoyed, were all a hair's breadth from collapsing around me. I didn't know if this was just me being paranoid – a remnant of my old self, who had ceased believing that anything good could happen to me – or if it were a premonition through the force. For this reason, I was returning to this neglected aspect of my power.

When I'd first begun exploring my powers, I'd sometimes thought of the force as a river. Understanding it through the metaphor of water seemed to come naturally to me. Maybe it was because I lived in a port town. Maybe it was because my head was full of my dad's dreams of being out on the water. Now though, as I deepened my connection, I had to concede that the sensation of submerging myself in water wasn't quite accurate. It wasn't really that I submerged, but rather that I diffused through the pools of ether so that, when the ebb and flow of the waves and eddies that swirled within its depths fanned me outward, my whole being expanding to become less distinct but greater. It wasn't a submerging… It was a merging.

The Bay opened up before me. My consciousness spread out like syrup across a pancake. It ran to every corner, and seeped into the pores of the city beneath; blanketing it, but also becoming a part of it. Capes were bright little points in the murk, like lights shining out from the bottom of a swimming pool. There were around thirty of them. Some were more familiar to me than others. Marissa was the most sharply defined. I didn't even need to focus on her to know which one was hers. On the edge of town Dinah's signature lay quiescent. She was probably sleeping. I ignored her for now. There was nothing I could do for her, and the fact that Coil had outsmarted me still irritated me. I couldn't see Dinah without explaining how I found her, and if I couldn't produce a satisfactory explanation, then Coil would inevitably discover that I could out capes. If not on his own, then through interrogating Dinah. The only reason he hadn't already tried to dispose of me was that he either hadn't yet asked the right question, or because he was confident he could use me beforehand. It was just another reason for me to learn and understand my powers more fully.

Kilometres away, in the other direction, there was another signature that I also knew intimately – Noelle. It pulsed like some hideous, beating heart. There were no words to describe it. If a star could be made of oozing, stringy flesh, and if it could be gnawing on itself in an eternal spiral of numb starvation, then that would be what Noelle felt like. The force seemed to wither and die in its presence, causing a kind of corona of emptiness around it. Just the act of focusing my attention on it had the effect of agitating it. I pulled my attention away just in time. The force quivered as it momentarily redoubled its efforts to locate me. So long as I wasn't trying to sense it in the force, it was as blind to me as I was to it.

And yet, I needed to know. It wasn't just idle curiosity either. There were secrets that beckoned to me. Secrets about my own powers, and possibly powers in general. Even now, after thirty years, parahumanism was still almost totally a mystery… at least to the general public.

I let myself drift on the currents. Every time I was dragged further from Noelle, I nudged myself on a tangent back. It wasn't quite in her direction, but it wasn't quite away either. I couldn't look at her directly, but maybe, with a little luck, if I just happened to float by, I could catch something. And surely, if it were just the currents of random chance that brought me and Noelle together, it wouldn't really count as breaking my promise to Marissa, would it?

Some time later, a current carried the fabric of my consciousness perilously close to that void. A hand's span closer, and I would be in its sphere of influence. I let my sense of self-preservation go, trusting that I would not be caught to the will of the force, and instead opened myself to the deeper currents.

Whereas before, visions were tumultuous yet comprehensible, here they were a jumble of fragmentary images. Glistening naked bodies, contorted faces, screaming, a severed eyeball, a dead world, a thousand cubic light years of space compressed a billion fold, a fractured black hole – the images went on and on, each more otherworldly than the one that preceded it. In the end, there emerged that sense of hunger. It grew and grew, encompassing everything, consuming people and things and worlds and stars and even the fabric of space-time itself-

I jerked back to consciousness. Part of me had brushed against the void-space, and suddenly the force was twisting around me like a maelstrom. I dragged myself back from the edge as quickly as I could. The force rippled. Things like distance and time and speed were less strictly defined here, but even I could tell that the creature was raging so powerfully, that it felt like the whole of the force was undulating like a cracked whip.

An interminable time later, I receded back into my own body, my awareness contracting and the connection to the force shrinking. There was a lingering sensation of phantom pain that the force could not soothe away.

The buzzing of my cell phone drew me from my introspection.

"Yes?"

"Boss," said Martin, the faint sound of traffic telling me he was outside somewhere. "I think we received a message from the ABB."

I was pretty sure Martin wasn't talking about receiving an email. I sighed. "I'm on my way."

~~JH~~

The force still felt frayed and unsettled by the time I reached the border between my territory and that of the ABB. The buildings here were broken down and empty – a consequence of being on the border between empire and ABB for so long. Only the most desperate would attempt to occupy such a space, which meant more often than not merchants.

In the middle of the street, three people hung suspended in midair, expressions of pain etched in every line of their body. There was a mother, and her two children. All were Asian. The mother was in the process of having her skin melted from her body in slow motion.

"Bakuda's work," explained Martin, eyeing the hideous sight as I approached.

"How long will the effect last?"

"Unknown. We've never seen a bomb of this character before."

I remembered the singularity bomb from months ago. It seemed that the tinker's repertoire was growing ever more exotic.

"She must have used two bombs concurrently to achieve the effect," I murmured as I circled the blast zone. The fact that the victims were a family and that one of them was very young, and the fact that they had been raised into the air – like a showpiece that was being put on display – it was all calibrated to make a statement of power, and to cow those who thought to escape the ABB.

Of course, I realized in retrospect. Many of the people in Lung's territory who perhaps were not sanguine about being there likely felt they couldn't leave, given that their options were either the merchants, the empire, or the rich parts of town. Now that the empire was gone, more than one family was likely wondering if my territory could serve as a safe haven from the dragon of Kyushu.

And yet the message no doubt had a further meaning, or at least an implication. The method of punishment was important too. Lung was testing me. He wanted to know if I could defeat his tinker's creations. One way or the other, it would set the stage for our future interactions.

I pressed one hand to the edge of the time bubble. It was warm and smooth; not unlike a glass bobble. While I could see into the future and the past, I had no special power to alter time and undo this effect. At least, nothing I knew of at the moment. I certainly couldn't save the victims from death. Already the mother's left leg was nearly liquefied, and the teenager's foot was taken. The only one not yet afflicted was the infant, whose wide-eyed and curious gaze stirred something inside.

I had to help these people somehow. I closed my eyes and reached out with the force. The time distortion didn't extend to the force, but the minds of the people were frozen. I could no more reach out and touch their minds than I could reach out and touch the minds of the dead. The force swirled in time to my agitation. Something of my frustration seemed to leak over to my other half, who responded. A memory bubbled up and gripped me. It flashed through my mind – lightsabers clashing faster and more furiously than anything I could do and then… in an instant, the enemy vanishing and reappearing a dozen paces away. Even through the memory I sensed the majesty of it – teleportation. And yet I also knew that it was a power that was almost totally beyond me. Vader himself wasn't adept at it, and there were simply no cheat codes to learn it. Especially when I sensed the approach of armed men and a cape.

"Lung inbound," said Martin. His voice remained calm and steady, but his feelings betrayed him. No one wanted to tangle with Lung, and as powerful as I'd proven to be, no one believed I could take him. I itched to prove them wrong, to express my dominance, but I also knew that, even if lopping off Lung's head had the effect of killing him, I would still only be revealed to be a one trick pony. I couldn't dismember every problem I came across. I needed to be better than that – for myself, for the people in my territory. I glanced at the family trapped in the time bubble. I needed to be better for everyone who was counting on me.

I closed my eyes again and reached out. There was a way, and I had to learn it now. Force teleportation didn't work like a Star Trek transporter beam. It was instantaneous. There wasn't even a pop of displaced air like in the Harry Potter novels. That meant it likely had to do with folding space. And it wasn't like walking through a door – the entire body had to pass through it at once. I reached out and began to experiment.

~~JH~~

There were times when Martin really fucking hated capes. In his experience, they were loud, obnoxious, and full of an undeserved sense of self-importance. Normally, he took a philosophical approach to the whole thing, figuring that it was nothing personal to any given cape but rather an artifact of a normal person being granted amazing powers. That kind of shit would go to anyone's head. It only got to him when his own life was on the line.

Martin gestured to his men to fall back ten feet to form a loose perimeter. He wanted them able to scatter and run at the drop of a pin. Zephyr had decided to mentally check out of the real world, assuming her placid look of communion was any indication. Meanwhile, a long black car was casually rolling down the street, giant headlights glaring like the eyes of an angry dragon as it approached.

"Confirm," said Martin calmly into his radio. "Lung is on approach."

"Confirmed," came the grim voice of the designated lookout. "Lung is in the vehicle."

"What of the secondary cape?" Not that it mattered. Bakuda didn't need to be present to be dangerous. That was the problem with tinkers. At least the third in their posse wasn't around anymore – apparently thanks to Zephyr.

Martin wouldn't have called himself a racist, exactly, but well, if the chips were down and it was a choice between the empire and the ABB, he'd choose the empire. Whatever their faults were, they didn't traffic women – at least not openly. And they at least put up a pretense of being civilized. The ABB were animals, and they reveled in it. Big fucking surprise. Their leader turned into a dragon. Not that anyone couldn't be an animal. The empire had had Hookwolf for Christ's sake, but there was a difference between employing one and being employed by one.

Despite all that, Martin was happy with Coil. Even if he were a cape, which Martin still wasn't sure about, he would be one of the few good ones. Except to the extent that he put Martin under the control of this crazy bitch who thought it was a good idea to take a nap standing while Lung approached – correction Lung was now getting out of his car.

Martin resisted the urge to raise his pistol and start firing. The gun was tinker-made and supplemented the acceleration of the armor-piercing round with some kind of electric coil that made the bullet travel at Mach 3. Even if he drilled a hole right between the gang leader's eyes, he had no doubt it would only piss the man off. Martin had been around long enough to know better than to think Lung could be taken by surprise. He'd once seen Hookwolf jump him from behind without warning. There'd been a good fifteen seconds in which he'd started to believe that Hookwolf had managed to kill Lung – right up until Lung had torn through Hookwolf's mass of grinding blades in a shower of molten steel.

A glance at Zephyr confirmed that she'd moved, but not in any meaningful way. Now she was pressing her forehead up against Bakuda's weird time bubble. The look of placidity had been replaced with one of concentration.

A dozen of Lung's flunkies had materialized out of the surrounding alleys and buildings, and were fanning out around him. They were all armed, but to Martin's eyes they were not a significant threat. Even though they had the numbers advantage, he and his men were better trained and better armed. He'd lose a couple if it came down to a firefight, assuming Lung let them get that far.

"You are intruding on what is mine," said Lung. His voice was powerful, and carried across the distance well.

There was a moment of silence in which none of his men spoke. Of course, it was expected that Zephyr would conduct the negotiations, never mind that she was a teenage girl. But apparently she was too busy. Martin took a step forward, aware of all eyes focusing on him. "This is not your territory."

At this distance, it was hard to tell, but Martin was certain that Lung was unhappy. The air around him shimmered with heat. It took him a second to realize that Lung was probably offended by the fact that Zephyr wasn't the one addressing him.

"Whose territory is it?" Lung stepped forward. "And who will stop me from taking it?" He continued to walk, his men remaining stoically behind.

Martin had to concede that he and his men were dead if they stayed. And Zephyr definitely if she didn't move.

Martin reluctantly lifted his radio to give the command to retreat, only to discover that there was only static. He stared dumbfounded at it, but the air of smugness radiating off Lung told him everything he needed to know. His fucking tinker could jam signals. Either he shouted it out or he stood his ground, or he just ran. None of them were appealing options.

He was about to shout and run when the sound of a baby crying cut through the tension. Martin turned and stared at Zephyr, who was holding a baby. His gaze flicked back to the time bubble. The mother and teenager were half-consumed, the look of agony still etching itself across their faces. But the baby was gone, having been transported by magic into Zephyr's arms. She was staring at the child, a strange look that was part softness and part befuddlement on her face.

Even Lung stopped to stare at the sight.

"You tried to kill this baby," said Zephyr. Her voice managed to both be quiet but to also carry across the street. "That makes me very unhappy."

"This is my territory," said Lung. "They are mine, and I will do with them as I see fit."

He made to take another step forward. What happened next happened so fast that Martin had to piece it together from context. There was a deafening boom, and a shockwave buffeted his clothes. The ABB grunts across the street were gone, having been crushed by a massive pile of rubble. The building behind them was gone as well, having been transformed into an avalanche of masonry that had buried them. Lung had turned to stare blankly at the carnage. The sheer magnitude of the destruction coupled with the speed of it terrified Martin on a visceral level. A glance at Zephyr gave the impression that she was barely even paying attention, still engrossed by the baby, who was tugging on one of her fingers.

Lung whirled around, his body flaring in a corona of white hot fire.

"It could have just as easily been the building on the left." Zephyr's voice was still mild.

The words meant nothing to Martin, but the cascade of emotions playing across Lung's face – confusion, surprise, fear, and finally, impotent rage – told him enough.

It was only later when the videos were posted on PHO and the discussions were flying fast and furious that Martin realized Bakuda had been in the other building – that Zephyr had chosen to spare her life and to turn her into a hostage that forced Lung to back down.

"This is not over," he growled.

Zephyr shifted the baby to one arm and drew out her lightsaber. She carved a line in the ground that made the asphalt bubble and hiss and pop. "If you or yours so much as puts one toe over this line, I'll consider it a declaration of war."

Lung stood in place for long seconds, vibrating with fury. Martin let out the breath he didn't know he'd been holding when the gang leader turned and stalked away. Martin's gaze fell to the pile of rubble and the haze of dust that still surrounded it. She'd flattened a dozen men in an eyeblink. They hadn't even had a chance to realize they were in danger before they were dead. As far as Martin knew, there was no cape in the Bay that could do that except maybe Bakuda.

As they packed up to go, he realized belatedly that had been part of the message too – that Zephyr could do what Bakuda did – kill so fast and hard that Lung would never see it coming.

Sometimes, Martin really fucking hated capes.


End file.
